Step-Change in Maintenance and Inspection to Survive for Mid-to-Small E&P Company in this Continuing Oil Price Down Turn
Authors: Panomrit Agkarat , Sri-intra S. , Limpanachaipornkul S. , Tanmon W. , chaisalee d. , Buato A. , Sawattanakit N. , Kanokwareerat N. , Panmungmee C. , Udomsri J. , Chiawwattana N. , Taranut N. , Salee W. , Limsakul C. , Wichetthammasak R. , Thamvechvitee P. , Kanlayanopakorn N. , Tangpuk S. , Wipoosanawan W. , Limprachaya S. , Nubsuwan S. , Sitthiwasuwat T. , Bamrungwong A. , Pongtemsuk J. , Chintanapatumporn S. 
Published: November 2017

The low-oil price situation impacts many oil and gas producers and operators across the globe. Some oil and gas giants called for cost-cutting or other quick-win means to sharply reduce their cost first with enhancing working performance later. This seems to be the effective, silver bullet solution for big company which wider cost reduction gap can be easily identified, but not for middle-to-small companies of which "Competitive Performance" is a key driver.

This paper presents how to survive not only during this difficult time, but also strive for sustainability in the long run. The main emphasis in this paper is paid on "Maintenance and Inspection (M&I)" programs and pertinent activities (e.g. inventory management), which pose the significant share in operating cost in exploration and production business entirely.

The reassessment of maintenance and inspection data leads to reconsideration of methods and philosophy to be applied for each installation, system, unit, down to maintainable items. The data structure in enterprise resource planning database is modified to pipe the data systematically to ease this data analysis and support the other continuous improvement when needed.

Various techniques have been applied to make our maintenance and inspection more efficient and effective. These rank from simple (e.g. reliability-based techniques, such as Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), Risk-based Inspection (RBI), Safety Integrity Level (SIL) to sophisticated approaches, such as parametric modeling; classical Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Similarity-based Modeling (SBM), etc., which are selected for best-fit with our applications.

The obsolescence and aging equipment management is unforgettable – It is built-in with the review process to deliberate how to manage the maintenance and inspection programs to suit with the asset life cycle; in term of total cost of ownership against remaining life and obtainable profits.

All stock parameters, associated formula/ calculation in relation with (e.g. reorder points, minimum and maximum quantity limit, etc.) and relevant management codes are reviewed and reinvented to come in close proximity with "Just-In-Time" requirement. Doing so helps reducing the non-movement spare parts in some extent, and in turn, lower the overall inventory cost, for instance, stock holding and carrying cost.

Moreover, that optimization are enhanced across the entire organization – Not limited only to one entity. All outcomes from one is fairly shared with others. Then our maintenance and inspection programs become more and more efficient and effective according the number of collaboration rounds and later enable the standardization throughout our company and affiliates.

All aforementioned lifts our competitive advantages; obviously the reduction in maintenance cost per Barrel of Oil Equivalence (BOE) approximately 10-30% depending on installation base and makes maintenance job value more meaningful.