How the Perdido Team Safely and Efficiently Increases Production Volumes
Authors: Leyva V. , Rolfvondenbaumen T. , Barber R. , Kalina K. , Hartmann B. 
Published: April 2018

Problem Statement

The Perdido asset support team needed a methodology to safely increase the facility’s production capacity while improving reliability and lowering their operating cost. The delivery of the waterflood expansion project in conjunction with drilling additional waterflood injection wells reenergized Perdido’s reservoirs presenting the Perdido team with production opportunities that could only be realized through relentlessly debottlenecking the wells and facility. To fully capitalize on the production opportunities the team also had to improve reliability since any added downtime could quickly erode the value gained from increasing production capacity. Finally, the team had to carry out the debottlenecking efforts while lowering operating costs to improve profitability against a lower price environment without compromising safety.

Methodology

The asset support team that took on the challenge employs a talented and diverse group of people who are empowered to work together as one-team to make the right risk-based decisions to achieve safe, efficient operations each day. The team was empowered by leadership to develop their own Wildly Important Goal (WIG) that would exceed the established business targets and deliver significant monetary gains. Excited to take on the challenge and have full autonomy over the new target, the asset support team established their WIG: "To deliver 4.2% Cash Flow from Operations (CFFO) above established business target." The WIG was designed to unify every technical discipline behind a common metric and connect everyone to the bottom line. The Perdido team also agreed on the three value drivers that would have the largest impact:

To keep a strong and disciplined focus on the WIG, the asset support team adopted daily and weekly practices designed to optimize cash flow and track progress towards their goal. The daily practices include activities such as a 15-minute "find-small fix-small" call-in with operators which ensures that small issues are identified and resolved before they become big problems; and unique rituals such as handing each other stuffed monkeys to identify which engineering discipline is holding back production or injection and is said to have "the monkey on their back". The weekly practices include focused meetings where the interdisciplinary team prioritizes, discusses and tracks the progress on projects which impact each of the three value drivers. The Perdido team also uses visually compelling dashboards to showcase progress towards goals and distill the output of the team’s huddles, meetings, and reviews. As a result, everyone supporting Perdido knows their role and maintains focus on safely achieving their WIG each day.

Looking to the future, the team will continue setting ambitious goals and utilizing their processes and visuals to achieve their targets. In January 2018, the Perdido team set a new Wildly Important Goal to continue safely reducing their unscheduled deferment, growing production volumes and finding new ways to drive down unit operating costs to ultimately add additional free cash flow from operations on top of the established business target. The team embraces change and thus continues learning and adjusting their practices so they are fit for purpose. This year the team is trying a new meeting schedule to reduce non-productive time and tacking weekly commitments each team member reads out loud.