Best Practices on Systems & Processes Implementation at KGD6 Deep Water Fields in India
Authors: Maddirala Krishna , Ghael Atish , Kanithai Swathi 
Published: March 2012

Every once in a while there comes a game changer, sometimes through serendipity and sometimes through grit and resolve. Here is a project that showcases how grit, resolve and world class management can impact an entire nation’s destiny.

The discovery and subsequent development of the deepwater oil and gas fields, in the KG-D6 Block off the Bay of Bengal in the east coast of India, have important ramifications for the country’s energy security. And the discovery and development project has been executed by India’s largest corporate house, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

As Oil and Gas companies prepare for a surge in worldwide consumption, they must focus on Implementation of Best Practices in terms of Effective Systems and Processes to realize Operational Excellence. It translates the vision into set of business operational & measurable objectives. Today Oil and Gas Industry is having challenges like Asset Integrity, Reliability, Competency, Environmental regualtions and compliances. Inspite of these challenges, to deliver on incident free operations and production availability; oil and gas organizations are seeking industry-specific solutions. These solutions must support standards of excellence that help the organizations to achieve compliance, safety and reliability goals; improve the planning process; enable continuous improvement; and enhance organizational learning.

Information is the fuel that allows leading organizations to make data-driven decisions. Effective Database Management and Information Flow are of key importance to enable organizations to continue the safe, efficient, effective and responsive operations of oil and gas business. These are the effective tools that help oil and gas organizations to achieve excellence in the areas of Asset Performance Management, Risk Management, Asset Integrity Management, Competency Management, etc.

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) realizes and fully acknowledges this importance of effective processes and sytems as one of the critical factors for the success of its oil and gas business. RIL has initiated the challenging initiative of implementing the best practices on systems and practices at the first ever deep water field of India – KGD6. These are strong foundation for the operataions at KGD6. Excellent data management has changed the dynamics of efficient business management during all the key stages of lifecycle of this prestigious asset – Project Development, Execution, Precommissioning, Commissioning and Steady State Operations. RIL has developed and established robust data management systems, supporting tools, systems and processes that are acknowledged as best practices across the Oil and Gas industry. Some of the best practices implemented are Bow-tie Analysis for Risk Management and development of HSE Case, Production Data Management System – Integrated with real time data from Distributed Control System, Compliance Management System through dedicated Intra-net based portal, Plant Change Management System through SAP platform, Document Management System with global search features and Competency Management System. These have not only enabled the organization to achieve flawless start-up of India’s first deep water field but also enabled to achieve Excellence-in-Excellence as recognized through various accrediations and third party International aclaimed audits.

Through this paper, the authors explain the efforts taken by RIL in E&P operations to establish best industry practices and its benefits to the organization in terms of tangibles and intangibles. Some of these are mentioned as below:- ▪HSE Management System developed and well established in line with Shell Global Solutions and latest techniques of Bow-tie analysis, Tripod analysis is in place which ensures LTI Free Operations (Zero LTI).▪Reliance Safety Observation Process (RESOP) is implemented as an effective tool for improving Behavioural Safety of own employees and contract employees.▪Round the clock Decision Support system for Control Room Engineers through Production Simulation System (PSS), supplied by Kongsberg; Norway. PSS is integrated with Distributed Control System (DCS), which results in Flawless Operations and also effective Production Planning.▪Production Data Management System (PDMS) – Excellent operating data management and its availability even at remote locations and corporate office on a 24×7 basis, which is a back bone for analysis and interpretation by internal experts for making corrective actions at every stage of Operations. Production Data Management System (PDMS) supplied by Halliburton is integrated with real time data from DCS through Aspentech Data Historian interface.▪Compliance management through intra-net based portal, developed by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) for effective monitoring of all regulatory compliances through a single platform, resulting in 100% compliance.▪SAP ERP Solutions – Plant Maintenance module for effective integration, planning and mangement of resources which ensures 100% system availability.▪Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) supplied by LabVantage - All laboratory analsysis and results are available with trends on intranet, which enables making corrective actions immediately.▪REIMS (Reliance Enterprise Information Management System) is established which ensures 100% availability of Documents with global search features. About 1,00,000 documents of KGD6 are presently available on REIMS.▪Operator Training Simulator (OTS) supplied by Kongsberg, which ensures well trained and competant engineers are deployed for control room operations.▪Process simulation packages like Aspen Plus, Hysys, PHAST, etc. are in place to enable detailed process studies for implementing plant modifications following Management of Change system through SAP platform.