Applying Front End Loading FEL Approach to Rationalizing Heritage Petroleum Company Limited Forward Development Strategy
Authors: Ransome Cherise M , Jackman Randell T 
Published: June 2021

This paper presents the methodology used by the Offshore Business Unit of Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL), to reorganize its future development portfolio. This methodology enabled us to re-organize and rank future projects in order of 1) Developability, 2) Subsurface, Drilling, Flow Assurance and HSSE risks, 3) Financial indicators such as CAPEX and $/BOE, as an approach to maximizing return on investment whilst maintaining the stated goals of the company of monetizing our oil reserves and resources.

Following the incorporation of HPCL, the organization attempted to embark on a production stabilization and growth strategy but faced challenges regarding financial and human resource allocation as well as understanding project development best suited for the mature 70 year kit it currently operates. There was a sizable Forward Drilling Campaign (FDP) that remained to be executed from the Legacy company, but there was a need to determine how best to proceed with it. The question was how can we optimize this FDP to attain Heritage’s goals in the short and near term.

The answer resided in holding a Pre-Appraisal workshop. A Pre-Appraise Level-1 workshop was held analyzing risk and uncertainty for all future drilling projects. Key to understanding and quantifying inherent risks and opportunities was the presence of a full multidisciplinary team, which included subsurface, facilities, drilling, finance, planning and HSSE personnel. This approach yielded a list of future opportunities that best fit HPCL’s debt-to-capital ratio or debt service coverage position. It also helped to identify projects better suited for joint venture or external capital expenditure options. This workshop resulted in upper management having clear line-of sight regarding the project portfolio, and resource assignment.

Once the projects were ranked and grouped, the process of calculating the associated investment to capitalize production across the entire lifecycle was undertaken. A matrix showing Dollar/BOE vs. Project Risk was then built for the new growth strategy. This tool allowed HPCL to select those opportunities that required minimum investment coupled with low HSSE risks.

The Pre-Appraise Level-1 workshop guided HPCL to initiate the Shallow Forest Main Field re-development and the East Field drilling development projects as developments to undertake with least risk. The Main Field Shallow Forest Development requires the lowest CAPEX (Drilling and Facilities) and is capital efficient. The proved to non-proven reserves ratio is small (0.05) indicating a high developable remaining resource which will be accessible through secondary or tertiary methods. This approach to understanding development portfolios is new within HPCL; although it has been tried and tested by many operators worldwide when reviewing their capital projects. The Shallow Forest Main Field development carries a low risk profile and is being managed using the Capital Value Process. This project is now in the appraise stage.