Managing Subsea Safety Critical Equipment and Design Performance Standards in Major Capital Projects – Mad Dog 2 Project

Abstract

Abstract For an offshore facility, identifying Safety Critical Equipment (SCE) and ensuring that they are designed, built, installed, and commissioned based on certain performance criteria are key to a safe design. In some parts of the world such as the North Sea, regulatory requirements dictate a mandatory third-party verification of the SCE and their corresponding design performance criteria. However, in other parts of the world such as the Gulf of Mexico, there is no such regulatory requirement. It is therefore up to the operator to provide assurance that the subsea SCE meets the design criteria. There exists no comprehensive guidebook for this type of assurance in the Gulf of Mexico. This paper exemplifies one potential methodology for establishing and implementing SCE design performance standards for a Subsea Production System, and shares some of the challenges from the BP Mad Dog 2 project (Argos platform) with managing the verification process, especially in a complex project organization where multiple contractors participate. Management of the subsea SCE design performance standards involves identification of the SCE, development of the relevant design performance criteria, and a two-step process to track each design criteria outcome via engineering assurance and field verification - where the design criteria is tested either at the manufacturing site, construction site, or during post-installation testing and commissioning activities. The activities presented were performed entirely via digital documentation, utilizing regulatory and industry standards, project specifications, vendor records, testing results, and commissioning procedures. Verification assurance and approval forms were digitally processed and tracked by using a subsea SCE design performance standards verification register. This paper shares several key learnings that will benefit the industry and future projects aiming to implement a robust subsea SCE verification process.