The Gryphon Management Strategy And Outcome

Abstract

ABSTRACT Extensive reservoir appraisal and numerous engineering studies concluded that the most economic development plan for the Gryphon field, UK North Sea, made use of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Unit (Ref. 1). Maintaining the robust economics of this relatively small field required quick and reticent implementation. First oil from Gryphon occurred only one year from the time agreement was reached to purchase the FPSO. Such fast-track projects often imply high costs in order to meet short delivery times. The Gryphon project management strategy, implemented a contractual philosophy which did not allow costs to escalate or long timescales. This paper describes the Gryphon project management strategy and outcome. OVERVIEW Given the fact that no acceptable infrastructure for the export of crude exists in the Gryphon field area, development studies focused on offshore loading schemes with low production downtime. This led to the recommendation to provide storage as a buffer while shuttle tankers were delivering product to customers. In December 1989 a contract was let with a Spanish shipyard to build a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) by a Norwegian ship owner, The construction was placed on a speculative basis with the intention that the vessel could be used as a drilling, production or test ship. The design of the ship which became Gryphon 'A' (and was also known as the Tentech 850C, PTS 850C and Smedvig Production Unit (SPU)) was a derivative of the Petrojarl design, a production/test ship successfully operating in the North Sea. The vessel hull was launched in April 1992 and fitting out as an FSU was scheduled for completion by the end of the year. Following negotiations with the owners, a 'Memorandum of Agreement' was signed in October 1992 to purchase the vessel. The Gryphon project called for design and construction of the processing facilities and modification of the ship to convert it to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Unit in one year (Figure 1). With a firm plan in place the UK government approved the development in December 1992. PURCHASE OF THE VESSEL The vessel was to be delivered to its new owners as a fully operational, registered Floating Production and Storage Unit with a UK Certificate of Fitness and Det norske Veritas Classification (DnVC) class certificate, To maintain the delivery schedule the new owners could not interfere with completion of the ship or modify its design. This philosophy formed the cornerstone of the management strategy for converting the ship from a Floating Storage and Offloading Unit into a Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit. MANAGEMENT STRATEGY The management strategy included a number of principles :employ a small number of competent experienced people to execute the projectpurchase goods and services from competent suppliersdevelop a common purpose of overall project success, not just maximizing income for individual participants/contractors