Basic mapping of the inspection process in offshore oil production facilities

Abstract

The paper addresses the current practice for inspection processes of offshore O&G production facilities in Brazil in order to evaluate opportunities for process improvement. The inspection process consists into monitoring the operational conditions of the submersed facilities preventing and correcting failures and avoiding accidents. The mapping activities include the understanding of how the current inspection process is carried out under the different operating conditions for the various platform facilities developing a general model suitable in any operating conditions. The resulting map of the activities was then analyzed by a team of experts from de academy and from the industry to take into account the current risk management procedures associated to the inspection process. This paper is a continuation of a research entitled “Challenges for the inspection of Pre-Salt ultra-deep offshore production facilities” presented at the OCEANS 14 conference, at St. Johns, 2014. An operational scenario where inspection process currently takes place in offshore facilities, the catodic inspection, is studied and analyzed. This typical scenario was selected and mapped out using a specific mapping technique based on the integration definition method for process mapping. After that, the scenario was documented as specific inspection processes, with details of each major activity in terms of input, output, controls and mechanisms being used, as well as a list of potential improvement points. The potential improvements were organized according to their priorities taking into account the benefits versus costs. So, the result of this research is a map of the inspection scenario analyzed, documented and evaluated. The results include a description of the identified points of improvement and the assessment of their potential impacts. As the O&G industry is requiring a continuous effort for operational process improvement, this research represents a contribution toward a standard of excellence in terms of technological, operational, people and management processes. The research results are also relevant for the industry because there are a limited number of research initiatives being carried out on this subject in Brazil. The Brazilian O&G industry is developing efforts to improve its inspection processes, with particular focus on standardization and alignment with the international best practices.