Oil Projects Research Articles

Identifying and prioritizing delay factors in Iran’s oil construction projects

Purpose Successful implementation of construction projects is one of the crucial factors for the economic development of every country. The main part of the countries’ capital is allocated to civil and infrastructure projects annually, most of which are accomplished with delay. Construction projects are often criticized for overrunning time and budgets. Analyzing the factors causing delay is essential for omitting them and timely implementation of these projects. Due to the importance of oil projects, this study aims to investigate and analyze the factors causing a delay in Iran’s oil construction projects. Design/methodology/approach In this research, after a broad literature review, using the fuzzy Delphi method, a total of 75 delay factors were identified under 11 major categories of owner, contractor, consultant, equipment, labor, materials, design, contract and contractual relations, laws and regulations, environmental factors, and managerial factors. Then, by using the best-worst method, the factors were prioritized. Findings The results showed that sanction, governmental management systems, weak project management by the contractor, technical and managerial weaknesses of the consultant, financial problems and delay in payment by the owner, low efficiency of the equipment, low productivity of the workforce, changes in laws and regulations, inappropriate organizational structure linking to the project, changes in the design, and changes in the price of materials are the most crucial factors causing a delay in Iran’s oil construction projects. Research limitations/implications These findings are expected to have significant contributions to Iran’s oil construction industry in controlling the time overruns in construction contracts. Originality/value The main contribution of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework in which, causes of delay in Iran’s oil construction projects are addressed and prioritized.

Specific purpose virtual assistant for oil and gas engineering projects

Specific purpose virtual assistant for oil and gas engineering projects

Asset Sharing in Oil and Gas Production Development Projects in Brazil

Asset Sharing in Oil and Gas Production Development Projects in Brazil

A multi-objective optimization approach for the selection of overseas oil projects

Most good quality overseas oil projects, high in investment returns and abundant in resources, are located in politically unstable regions, where competing objectives present great challenges for investors to make informed decisions. Moreover, most of the existing models are single objective and do not adequately incorporate the unique characteristics of overseas oil investment. To bridge these gaps, this study develops a Non-linear Multi-objective Binary Program (NMBP) to optimize the investment portfolios under three competing objectives. A solution algorithm is developed to solve this multiple objective program by integrating Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) with Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). NSGA-II searches for the pareto set of optimal investment portfolios and TOPSIS determines the best compromise solution based on the investors’ preferences. Finally, China’s oil investment in the Belt and Road Initiative countries is taken as a case study to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Production technology solutions to enhance heavy oil recovery of marginal fields, offshore Vietnam

The finding of heavy oil at Dong Do field of Cuu Long basin is a success in exploration. It could be considered as a large heavy oil field offshore Vietnam. Maximising reserve is a challenge to the operator when they think of a suitable development strategy to efficiently and economically exploit the field. Over the past decades, production technology application in heavy oil production has been widely developed in the industry. Apart from the thermal method, pumping technology makes remarkable advances by enlarging the drawdown created over the conventional gas lift in several heavy oil projects.
 This paper presents all the production technology solutions that apply to the marginal heavy oil field offshore Vietnam. One of the major solutions is the electric submersible pump (ESP) and gas-lift (GL) combination method to enhance the wellbore lifting efficiency. In doing so, a series of solutions to improve heavy oil recovery have been conducted from design to pilot test whilst optimising the economic yield over the field life. Among them, the application of ESP and GL combination plays as the key driver to reinforce good production performance.
 As a result, the design includes an electrical pump system coupled with GL back-up, all integrated with one to boost production and prolong well life. Beside that, closely monitoring and optimising is one factor to give the pump a longer life.

ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ВНУТРИРЕГИОНАЛЬНЫХ СТРУКТУРНЫХ СДВИГОВ В ЭКОНОМИКЕ ДАЛЬНЕВОСТОЧНОГО СЕВЕРА

Based on the methodology proposed by the author for the study of structural shifts in the economy of the North, an analysis of sectoral and territorial structural shifts in the production sphere of the Far Eastern North and its 4 economic regions (constituent entities of the Russian Federation) in a ten-year retrospective 2005–2015 was carried out.The article gives brief economic and geographic characteristics of the region, identifies the main parameters of economic and natural potentials, shows the levels and volumes of development of the region as a whole and its components by districts. The structuring of the region with the allocation of production and non-production areas of activities is presented, their assessment is given.The study of structuralshifts in the production sphere by the main sectors (sectoral structural shifts) was carried out, the results of development were identified and evaluated. The shifts in the leading sector, the industry as a whole and in its sub-branches are investigatedin more detail.The interrelation of sectoral and territorial structural shifts is shown and their assessment is given. The relationship between structural shifts and development rates of industries in the production sector was identified, which increased6,1 times in 2005–2015, mainly due to the accelerated development of the industry ––an increase of 10,7 times. This made it possible to double the share of the economy of the Far East North from 6,4 to 13,0% in 2015 in the North zone. At the same time, the heterogeneity of the production sphere in the region itself had a negative impact on territorial structural shifts, when 2/3 of the industrial potential was concentrated in Sakhalin region only, where the main production growth took placedue to the implementation of oil and gas projects. Other regions of the Far East North developed at a slower pace during this period,as a result of which their share decreased by 10 % and in 2015 amounted to 24% of the entire production sector of the region.On the basis of the study brief conclusions and proposals for further development of the district are made.

Building Projects on the Local Communities\u2019 Planet: Studying Organizations\u2019 Care-Giving Approaches

This study examines local communities’ lived experiences and organizations’ care-giving processes regarding four oil and gas projects deployed in three countries. Analyzing the empirical data through the lens of ethics of care reveals that, together with mature justice, the inclination to care conceived at the focal organization creates an ethical culture encouraging caring activities by individuals at the local level. Through close communications with communities, project decision makers at the local level recognize the demanded care of local communities and develop organizations’ caring capacity. The empirical analysis revealed that the care-giving process can also be influenced by the power dynamics of the network of stakeholders. This research emphasizes on the success of a bottom-up approach in caring for local communities, and sheds light on the capability of large organizations in giving care to their distal stakeholders by adopting this approach. Furthermore, it indicates that justice and care both have some useful characteristics and are complementary but, most importantly, are socially constructed and not mutually exclusive.

Не по Киплингу

Не по Киплингу

Evaluating the Cost Efficiency of Systems Engineering in Oil and Gas Projects

Studies of systems engineering applications have revealed that systems engineering (SE) has a high potential for transferring economically inefficient oil and gas projects into a profitable zone due to preserving the value created at the concept stage right up to the implementation stage. To implement any project, including an organizational one, the company must have an economic justification for innovation. Studies into the global experience of assessing SE efficiency based on projects of various types have revealed the lack of a universal assessment method; however, individual studies have potential to be used in developing a method for quantifying the value of SE in oil and gas projects. Considering this fact, we developed our own method and prototype to assess the economic effect from the introduction of SE into oil and gas projects. The method is based on a decision tree used to calculate the Net Present Value considering the probability of projects’ success and failure in terms of budget and deadlines. This allowed us to predict the effect from introducing SE to an oil company’s capital project. The results obtained demonstrated the model’s performance capability and its possible applications in project resource planning stages.

Pilot Program in Mexico Classifies Oil and Gas Projects Using UN Framework

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 196566, “Mexico Pilot Project To Classify Oil and Gas Projects Using United Nations Framework Classification,” by Satinder Purewal, SPE, Imperial College, and Fidel Juárez Toquero, SPE, and Eduardo Simón Burgos, National Hydrocarbons Commission of Mexico, et al., prepared for the 2019 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Calgary, 30 September-2 October. The paper has not been peer reviewed. A pilot project was initiated to classify oil and gas projects in Mexico using the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC). The UNFC assists in identifying key social and environmental factors that could impede the movement of oil and gas volumes higher up the value chain. To the authors’ knowledge, this is a unique project with significant value-adding outcomes that can be replicated in other countries. Mexico’s Perspective For proper assessment of discovered and undiscovered hydrocarbon volumes, Mexico adopted the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) as its official classification framework. The country features a wide spectrum of cultures, indigenous identities, and social organizations, and in some cases, industry activities could represent a threat to these aspects of Mexican life. As an effect of the nation’s geographical location, a diversity of ecosystems exists, from deserts to regions rich in flora and fauna such as rainforests and wetlands. This reality emphasizes the need for robust legislation guaranteeing the protection of the environment. UNFC The UNFC is a system for classifying resources including petroleum, minerals, and renewables. Quantities are classified on the basis of a 3D, three-axis system (Fig. 1). Each axis assesses different factors on the basis of three fundamental criteria: economic and social viability (E), field project status and feasibility (F), and geological knowledge (G), using a numerical coding system. Categories and subcategories of each axis are the building blocks of the system and are combined in the form of classes. A class is defined by a combination of categories or subcategories sourced from each of the three criteria. A classification made according to the UNFC will be expressed with a three-digit code providing the location of the project in the 3D system, starting with the E, then the F, and finally the G axis. Additionally, the three-digit code can be expressed in terms of categories (E1, F1, G1) which will be read as classes, as well as in terms of subcategories that are read as subclasses. The three-digit code provides information on the maturity status of a project. When category level is used, projects can be classified as Commercial, Potentially Commercial, Noncommercial, Exploration, and Additional Quantities in Place associated with known and potential deposits. When the subcategory level is used, projects can be subclassified. The relationship between the PRMS and the UNFC can be explained better in terms of the linkage between the evaluation processes of the range of uncertainty and chance of commerciality in both systems. The PRMS categorizes the volumes to size the range of uncertainty present in the estimates, while the UNFC does the same through G-axis evaluation.

Task Force Updates Guide Presenting Best Practices in Environmental Management

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 199456, “Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, Second Edition - A Guide to Environmental Management Good Practices in the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry,” by Wendy Brown, IOGP, Artemis Kostareli, IPIECA, and Ian Sealy, SPE, Schlumberger, prepared for the 2020 SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability, originally scheduled to be held in Bogota, Colombia, 28-30 July. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Industry was first published in 1997 by the E&P Forum [the predecessor of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP)] and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a guide to best practices in environmental management throughout the lifecycle of upstream oil and gas projects. Since then, the industry has made substantial changes in environmental risk management and mitigation. IOGP’s Environmental Committee determined in 2016 that a revision of the publication (also known as IOGP 254) was required. The complete paper describes the development of, and summarizes the major changes and additions to, the guide’s content.

Adsorption of natural CaCO3 nanoparticles on the reservoir rock surfaces in the enhanced oil recovery process: equilibrium, thermodynamics, and kinetics study

The major challenges in using nanoparticles in oil and gas industry projects are high investment costs and environmental problems. Bio-nanoparticles provide a solution to environmental and economic challenges in the nano-assisted EOR processes. In this work, the potential of natural calcium carbonate nanoparticles containing chitin for wettability alteration in enhanced oil recovery was studied. The adsorption behavior of bio-nanoparticles onto calcite-dolomite rock surface was distinguished through kinetics, equilibrium, and thermodynamics assessments. Besides, oil recovery is measured through forced imbibition experiments. The Taguchi experimental design was conducted to optimize the parameters influencing oil recovery factor in forced imbibition experiments, including nanofluid concentration, temperature, and oil type. Results of the adsorption experiment showed that adsorption kinetics of bio-Ca nanoparticles onto calcite-dolomite surface follows the pseudo-second-order model and monolayer, Langmuir adsorption of bio-nanoparticles. The endothermic heat of physical adsorption (physisorption) was found 3.32 kJ/mol. Based on the experimental design, the optimum parameters that can rise to additional oil displacement are a nanofluid concentration of 0.05 wt.%, normal heptane as liquid phase, minimum salinity (Milli-Q-water), and ambient temperature. The oil recovery factor increased by 17.52% at an optimum nanofluid concentration of 0.05 wt.% in comparison to a base fluid without nanoparticle. The results indicate that synthesized bio-Ca nanoparticles have proper EOR potential in both light oil and heavy oil reservoirs at certain conditions.

Assessing the public interest in environmental assessment: lessons from cost-benefit analysis of an energy megaproject

ABSTRACT The potential contribution of cost-benefit analysis to environmental assessment is assessed through a case study of a proposed Canadian oil project and a comparison of results with those of the method of economic impact analysis. While the latter concludes that the project would generate substantial economic benefits, the cost-benefit analysis concludes that the project would be a net loss to society and that new oil mining is uneconomic. The case study demonstrates that economic impact analysis can help inform decision-makers of projects’ economic impacts, but the cost-benefit analysis should be used to help inform decision-makers with respect to the contribution of projects to the public interest. It is time to move beyond relying solely on economic impact analysis to measure project benefits in environmental assessment decision-making.

Risk Hedging Tools: Efficiency and Significance of their Use in the Processes of Forming Development Strategies of Russian Oil and Gas Companies

The possibilities of using hedging methods as an instrument for effective business development in the Russian oil and gas market are shown. The relevance of the study is to systematize and identify the key elements of the risk hedging mechanism for business units of oil and gas companies. The focus is on the adaptation of methods such as descriptive statistics and the ARIMA model. Information for the study was taken from open sources, including daily data from company websites and data from official websites of other organizations. The article presents a risk hedging scheme in oil and gas field development projects. The risks of the project were assessed with qualitative and quantitative indicators. This made it possible to identify the dynamics of the degree of change in the latter and evaluate the costs associated with minimizing them during the life cycle of an investment project for the development of an oil (gas) field. Recommendations are proposed to reduce the basic risks of the project. To this end, they were ranked according to their importance to the investor. Significant risks in Russia for investors in the industry are country risks, the reduction of which is a priority for attracting new investments.

Enhancing Oil Spill Response Capacities in the South Baltic Sea Region via Cross-Border Utilization of Biodegradable Oil Binders

Occurrences of oil spills are responsible for very significant environmental degradation; they are more likely to happen in areas with dense shipping traffic, or in close vicinity of transport pipelines and/or other infrastructures used for production and processing purposes. Without international cooperation, individual countries often lack sufficient resources and assets to successfully respond to large-scale oil spill incidents. This can be related to the vast quantities of oil involved in those incidents or the lack of necessary special equipment for dealing with the tasks at hand by the country under the need to respond. For successful resolution of oil spill incidents, close and effective international cooperation -especially between neighboring countries that usually “share the burden” of oil pollution- is a vital necessity. On this basis, the South Baltic Oil (SBOIL) project aims to strengthen the existing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic region, introducing a cross-border spill response tool based on the new ‘green technology’ of biodegradable oil binders (BioBinders).
 In order for this new concept to be implemented, it is necessary to examine the international and national regulations and guidelines with reference to sorbent use and exchange of oil spill equipment in the area of interest and also analyze the national oil spill contingency plans of the different countries involved in the project. After investigating the legal requirements for the utilization of BioBinders in the South Baltic region, the analysis at hand presents the outcomes of a Table Top Exercise that was based on a realistic oil spill scenario in the wider region. This Exercise tested the compatibility of International/National/Regional plans regarding the use of the BioBinders and examined the topics of recovery and waste management, including alternative techniques available for oil spill response. Results point towards the direction that the use of the BioBinders is promising and represents a response option to improve the existing oil spill response capacities in the South Baltic region; the main challenge lies with the difficulty in dealing with waste management, mainly because of the current legislation in place within the participating countries.

First IPTC in Saudi Arabia Attracts Top Executives, Breaks Attendance Record

2020 IPTC conference review The 12th International Petroleum Technology Conference, held 13–15 January in Dhahran, was the largest in its history with more than 18,000 attendees. It marked the first international multidisciplinary, intersociety oil and gas conference and exhibition to be held in Saudi Arabi and featured some of the globe’s top oil and gas executives, including the energy ministers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Saudi Aramco’s president and CEO, and the CEOs of ExxonMobil, Total, Petronas, and Woodside. Below are highlights from some of the plenary, panel, and technical sessions that took place during the 3-day event. Welcoming a New Energy Era The conference opened with a distinguished panel offering its outlook for oil and gas markets in the next year and the next decade. “This is the first interdisciplinary oil and gas conference to be held in Saudi Arabia,” said Mahmoud M. Abdulbaqi, chairman of the board of ARGAS and chairman of the IPTC Board of Directors. The conference was hosted by Saudi Aramco. The opening panel included Abdulbaqi; Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, senior vice president, upstream, Saudi Aramco; Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of the board, Saudi Aramco; and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, minister of energy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “These are exiting times for the Kingdom,” al-Qahtani said, as both Saudi Aramco and the oil and gas industry at large face a new decade of growing demand but with a need to lighten the industry’s carbon footprint. Saudi Aramco raised a record $29.4 billion in its recent IPO. Al-Rumayyan said the oil and gas industry thinks in terms of decades, which runs up against the notion that the “energy transition” will occur “from a definitive point A to a definitive point B” and will take place at the same time in the same way everywhere. Instead, he offered what he called the “pragmatic narrative” of a transition happening over decades and that there “will be many energy transitions” at different speeds. The more narrow narrative is having negative consequences for the industry, he added, because it is influencing some banks to back away from funding oil and gas projects. This lack of investment eventually will lead to a supply shortage that could cause oil price spikes in the near future, he said. He acknowledged the need of the industry to “lighten the carbon footprint” through technology and innovation, but it must continue to meet the world’s energy needs. The industry must never forget its role to responsibly supply energy required to power the world and sustain economies, he said. If the industry “offers real solutions with real energy to meet real needs” it will last well into the future, he added. Saudi Energy Minister Al-Saud noted the historically important role that Saudi Arabia has played since the discovery of oil about 80 years ago. The global economic growth of the past half century, which paved the way for transformative development and lifted many out of poverty, would not have taken place without the stability of oil supply from Saudi Arabia.

On the choice of mathematical methods for assessing the value of real options for capacity extension of oil and gas projects

The article presents the results of the study of cost evaluation of a real option for capacity extension of a two-phase liquefied natural gas production project and the economic effect of reserving capacity in the project. The expediency of using the simulation method to solve the problem of assessing the economic efficiency of the project with the real option at different stages of the project cycle is shown. Recommendations are given on using methods for constructing a binomial and a numerical integration models as additional (testing) methods for assessing the economic efficiency of a project with an option at the pre-investment stage.

Role of BIM technology in enhancing safety analysis of Iraqi oil projects

Oil projects are one of the most common projects which recorded high rates of injuries. Perhaps, due to the complex designs of these projects or poor planning for occupational safety. The research methodology adopts 4D simulation and animation concepts of building information modeling (BIM) technology. This study aims to improve the safety in the Iraqi oil projects, study the impact of applying this technology on the schedule time and cost. The research idea will be applied to one of the Iraqi oil and gas projects. The authors find out that the application of BIM technology leads to accurate identification and assessment of hazards, the ability in providing solutions to mitigate these hazards and solving all safety problems in early stages. The results concluded that applying BIM in the project will increase the working duration of the project about (11 days), and the total cost of safety equipment according to the BIM approach is (36569230 ID). This study is the first of its kind in the application of modern technologies (BIM) in addressing safety problems in Iraqi oil projects.

Have the Chinese National Oil Companies Paid Too Much in Overseas Asset Acquisition?

This paper provides both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of whether the Chinese oil companies have “overpaid” than international oil companies in overseas asset acquisitions. By controlling oil price and a number of asset- and deal-specific attributes that are known to affect the valuation of oil and gas projects, we find that while the Chinese companies did not overpay than international oil companies for the period of 2001-2008, there is statistically significant evidence that they overpaid during the 2009-2016 period (mainly 2009-2013). The counterfactual analysis indicates that the Chinese companies paid, on average, 64 percent more than what an international oil company would have paid for the same assets during the post-2008 period. Interviews with industry experts and qualitative analysis suggest that the overpayment mainly results from a series of mistakes due to lack of experience and rush for projects in a period of high oil prices rather than concerns about energy security or other political considerations. The results raise concerns over the efficiency and corporate governance of Chinese state-owned companies, pointing to the need for further reforms.

Oil project selection in Iran: A hybrid MADM approach in an uncertain environment

This research focusses on the selection of oil projects by using Multi-Attribute Decision Making (MADM) methods in an uncertain environment. Oil production plays a crucial role in the economy of Iran, a country with many opportunities for onshore oil exploration. Differently from other countries, however, oil producers in Iran face some constraints with respect to oil extraction because some areas are shared with other producers. Additionally, oil producers in Iran must also allocate scarce physical, human, and monetary resources among different projects. Inaccurate decision-making may not only yield sub-optimal revenue generation, but also adversely affect the national economy For these reasons, priority oil projects must observe a sequence of steps. In the first step, critical factors for selecting oil projects are collected from previous related studies and experts are interviewed. These factors are subsequently filtered using the Delphi method. The oil projects are then ranked using a comprehensive approach involving novel alternative MADM methods. The best-worst method (BWM) is a new MADM stream that relies on pairwise comparison. It presents several distinct advantages with respect to fewer computational steps and higher discriminatory power among alternatives. Differently from previous research, this paper couples BWM with Weighted Aggregated Sum–Product Assessment (WASPAS) to improve result sensitivity under uncertain decision-making environments as modelled by Z-numbers. A robustness cross-check against other MADM models is also presented. Results indicate that quality has the highest priority and that production technology has the lowest priority among ten factors for oil project selection, thus reflecting the impact of US sanctions on oil production in Iran. Managerial implications and future avenues of research are derived.