An Integrated Approach to Successful Integrity Management of Deepwater Facilities within the Framework of API RP 75
Authors: Von Aschwege J. Thomas , Chappell John F. , Brownlee James Kirk , MacNeill John C. , Bhalla Kenneth 
Published: July 2010

The broad goals of a strategy to provide effective integrity management of a deepwater drilling and production facility should be:to ensure the health and safety of the people operating the facility,to avoid negative operational impacts on the environment,to ensure compliance with government regulations, andto preserve the operability, sustainability, and profitability of the physical asset.

This paper describes the need for taking an organizationally integrated approach to successfully manage the physical integrity of deepwater drilling and production facilities throughout their full life cycle. In addition, because of the increasing complexity of deepwater facilities, an interdisciplinary engineering effort is needed and can contribute significantly to improving life cycle integrity management. A complementary approach of integrating externally-provided engineering functions throughout the design/build/operate stages of a facility can also improve an integrity management program - in terms of both technical quality and cost effectiveness.

How this can be accomplished is described within the framework of API RP 75, Recommended Practice for Development of a Safety and Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities, Third Edition, May 2004.

A discussion is also offered on organizational challenges in achieving integrity management goals, and on issues related to the value provided.

Introduction

API RP 75, Recommended Practice for Development of a Safety and Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities, provides an excellent overall framework to begin a discussion on developing a comprehensive integrity management (IM) program for deepwater drilling and production facilities. In fact, regulatory authorities such as the Minerals Management Service are taking a stronger interest in requiring selected elements of API RP 75 to be implemented by Operators. It can be used either to develop an IM program from scratch, or its elements can be readily adapted to fill gaps in an Operator's existing IM program.

The success of any IM system depends on establishing and maintaining effective technical and business communications within, and between, all parts of an organization. Key management, operations, and engineering functions must stay fully engaged in all IM processes throughout the full life cycle of a facility. This paper describes the benefits of taking an organizationally integrated approach to provide successful integrity management (IM) of deepwater drilling and production facilities across their full life cycle - from facility design to decommissioning and removal. It also addresses organizational challenges to achieving long-term IM goals and presents ideas on assessing or measuring the value of IM programs.

Because of the increasing complexity of deepwater facilities, an interdisciplinary engineering effort is often needed. Depending on the Operator's organization and its capabilities, the interdisciplinary engineering functions required to field an effective and successful IM effort may require the Operator to use external (third party) engineering services. This paper also describes how these providers of engineering services can support key elements of API RP 75.