PROJECT MANAGEMENT IMPROVES WELL CONTROL EVENTS

Garold D. Oberlender
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, Okla.

L. William Abel
Wild Well Control Inc.
Spring, Tex.

During a well control operation, the efficient use of personnel and equipment, through good project management techniques, contributes to increased safety and ensures a quality project. The key to a successful blowout control project is to use all resources in the most efficient manner. Excessive use of resources leads to unnecessary expenditures and delays in bringing the project under control.

Effective project management techniques are critical for complex, schedule-intensive, well control projects(53257 bytes). In a well control situation, information must be gathered and organized in a systematic manner so that good decisions can be made at the right time. A project team must be organized, and all efforts must be coordinated to focus on the common goal of completing the project efficiently.

Project management is a process of orderly management of numerous tasks that must be accomplished simultaneously. Project management is defined as the art and science of coordinating people, equipment, materials, money, and schedules to complete a specified project on time and within approved costs.

Project management techniques have steadily improved in the past 40 years.

In the 1950s, formal techniques, such as the critical path method (CPM), were developed for managing large complex engineering and construction projects for the petrochemical industry. In the 1960s, computer automation of many project management techniques became possible, with sophisticated tracking models developed for controlling the progress of projects.

In the 1980s, the introduction of personal computers provided even more access to automated project management techniques to allow planning, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling of work in a real-time environment.

Lessons learned from the practice of good project management can be applied to wild well projects. In such emergency situations, the schedule of the project usually takes priority over all other considerations. Therefore, the ability to monitor progress carefully in a real-time environment is extremely important to controlling the project.

Information must be gathered, organized, and given to the right person at the right time so good decisions can be made under adverse conditions.

Well control projects have various levels of complexity, and as the complexity increases, the need for a project management approach becomes more important.

Several complicated and difficult well control projects occurred in the 1980s, and the cost to control these wells exceeded $200 million each. Many experienced individuals in any business will readily agree that a $200 million project justifies the use of advanced project management techniques to control and guide the efforts of all parties and ensure a successful outcome.

Several of these multimillion dollar projects, however, were run without proper planning and with little or n application of a formal system of project management. The lack of good project management principles caused inefficiencies, delays, and higher costs.

The Kuwait well control project, which involved more than 700 blowouts, was accomplished in a much shorter time (8 months) than first estimated (5 years). This improvement partly resulted from the application of sound project management techniques. These projects were prime examples of the need for a formal project management approach to handling wild well projects.

There are many examples of projects that were successful in controlling wells but were economic disasters. Only through the effective application of project management can complex well control projects be completed in reasonable time frames at reasonable cost.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

To be effective, a project team must be able to make things happen, which is best accomplished by maintaining a "Can do" attitude and working together as an integrated team. Effective teamwork is mandatory for bringing any wild well under control.

The first step in organizing the team is selection of the project manager who is assigned full responsibility for all aspects of the project. This individual must have knowledge and experience in dealing with well control projects. Most importantly, he must be given the authority to make decisions and to act as the sole coordinator of all activities.

Because the project manager must focus his full attention on the wild well, he must not be involved in any other work that may distract his attention and concentration.

The first task of the project manager is to assess the condition of the well to determine viable options for bringing it under control. This task is best done if a proper contingency plan is already in place, providing for rapid deployment of predetermined action plans. The project manager must also establish proper communication channels with all appropriate authorities. He must have both a thorough knowledge of well control projects and effective management skills.

Because each wild well event is unique, the project team must be assembled, organized, and managed for the particular conditions at the well location. The project manager must assemble a team of people who have the right technical expertise to handle the job. He must be the leader of the team of individuals with diverse backgrounds and with special expertise to handle any problems that arise. Although a formal system of handling the project is needed, it is people that make things happen, and these people must have the ability to detect problems, make adjustments to the system, and make the right decisions at the right time.

PROJECT SCOPE

Although each wild well control project is unique, a well-managed project generally follows this sequence:

• The team must define the scope of what must be accomplished, including giving priorities to tasks, identifying equipment and special expertise, and setting expected levels of quality, safety requirements, and reliability of operations.

• Although budget is often not a controlling factor in well control projects, eventually the allocation and responsibility of cost expenditures must be addressed, including budgeting each task in the scope definition.

• A strategy must be set for accomplishing the tasks. It is important to anticipate all events and to build contingency plans into the project for the unexpected deviations that often occur.

• A timetable must be made for the planned work to ensure an integrated sequence of all tasks.

• A tracking system must be developed to ensure the project progresses as planned, by measuring actual work done versus the schedule.

• The project should be closed out, which includes verification that all required tasks have been completed to ensure the project is in a stable condition and completed at an acceptable level of quality.

These steps represent project management in its simplest form. In practice there is considerable overlap in the sequences because there are many parties involved, and the work of one may affect the work of others. Thus, extensive coordination is required.

Most existing project management literature deals with engineering design, construction, or manufacturing work and not with wild well control projects. The issues that are discussed generally focus on expediting the work in a schedule-compressed mode, similar to a fast-track construction project. Thus, the basic principles of project management apply to schedule-driven wild well control projects.

The most important task for any project is to define the scope of work. A fundamental principle of project management is that any project, regardless of its size or type, consists of three components: scope, budget, and schedule. Each of these components must be described in detail and linked to the others. For example, as the scope of work increases, the cost and time to do the work will also increase. Defining the project scope must precede defining the budget or schedule.

In a wild well project, the overall objective is to extinguish the fire and bring the well under control. Other objectives, however, may be extremely important also. For example, the objectives may include controlling the well in a way that allows drilling operations to resume so the well can eventually be produced rather than abandoned.

In construction projects, the emphasis is too often incorrectly placed on budget and schedule and not on the scope or quality of work. In well control projects, there may be excessive emphasis on schedule and on controlling the well as quickly as possible without regard to the impact on budget, scope, or quality. Because of the nature of well control projects and the pressures to achieve a quick solution, it is often difficult to manage the project efficiently. Careful planning beforehand will provide a workable and rational solution for the operations group.

The well control company is best suited to be involved in the design and implementation of the control operation, provided its personnel have the skill and capabilities to perform project management duties. If the well control company has engineering expertise that is fully integrated in its field operations, they will be best suited for overall coordination and management of the project.

Regardless of the type of well control project, there must be a single project manager who is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the project. The project manager is responsible for reporting to the operator or team with complete responsibility and authority for making decisions.

The most successful well control projects have been completed by a competent project manager who had the technical expertise and the management skills necessary to ensure the work was performed as and when needed. Committees, with a group acting as a project manager, tend to have slow decision making and be bureaucratic.

In well control project management, four fundamental questions must be addressed: Who is going to do it? What are they going to do? When are they going to do it? And, how much is it going to cost?

A lack of an answer to any of these questions during the project will usually result in additional problems.

The most important skill the project manager must possess is the ability to be an effective communicator. Regardless of his abilities as an engineer or manager, he will be ineffective if he lacks communication skills. The project manager must have the technical knowledge of what needs to be done and the ability to communicate that knowledge to others.

To bring a blowout under control, many different types of expertise are required. Thus, the project manager must have the ability to delegate authority and responsibility to the specialists involved so he can concentrate on the overall project objectives. The central axiom for project management is to organize the project around the work to be done rather than trying to force events to fit some predetermined organization.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

Regardless of the type of management organization chosen for a well control event, the main consideration must be a bias for action. The management group must focus on five major functions: planning, organizing resources, selecting staff, coordinating work, and controlling the operation.

Each well control project is unique and requires a suitable choice of organizational structure, the most common of which are discipline, functional, and matrix organizations.

In a discipline-oriented organization, personnel who share the same technical expertise are placed in common departments. For example, all civil engineering expertise is located in the civil engineering department, etc.

A functional organization places individuals in departments that focus on specific processes, such as reservoir engineering, production engineering, or drilling and completion.

The matrix organization places overall management responsibilities in a management group. The management group obtains technical expertise from the various departments in the company and, if necessary, secures assistance from sources outside of the company.

The most desirable organizational structure for a well control event depends on numerous factors, including the severity and complexity of the event and the availability of technical expertise. For routine projects, either the discipline or functional approach may be suitable. For a complex and technically difficult project, the matrix organization is preferable.

The two structures recommended for well control events are the functional and matrix organizations. The functional organization disperses the disciplines among the departments in a company. Project teams are formed within the departmental group. Management is usually accomplished by the team leader or project manager, who also is a member of the department.

On occasion, a drilling department may be called upon to function in the role of project manager to oversee the blowout control event. This arrangement may be acceptable for smaller, more routine projects but can present some problems in dealing effectively with a major event.

A common error in the management of well control projects is to attempt to direct the work from within a departmental group which retains all the of its existing responsibilities. This method dilutes the efforts of the project manager, and one or more of his projects will suffer as a result. Well control events should be managed by a single person who has no other priorities or responsibilities, a person who can focus his attention exclusively on the complex process of controlling the well.

The matrix organization increases the importance of managing cost and schedule and maintaining the general balance among all the elements of the project. A separate project management organization directs the job, with the support of technical expertise from the discipline departments. The objective is to keep the disciplines in their home environments where they function best, while making their expertise available to meet the needs of the project.

The matrix organization requires two lines of communication: one to the discipline organization and the other to the project organization. A discipline manager answers any specific questions. Issues related to the project are addressed by the project manager. In the matrix organization, the project manager coordinates all aspects of the well control project. Each discipline is responsible for its portion of the project, such as quality, cost, or schedule.

Matrix organizations can be strong or weak. In a strong matrix, the project manager has the authority to decide what is best overall for the project. In a weak matrix, the discipline group has the authority to make decisions for the project. The success of the matrix organization is highly dependent on the company's philosophy, and even more so on the attitude of the employees involved. If discipline managers are more concerned about their discipline than the project, the project can have inefficiencies and delays.

A key to a successful project is a balance between the technical expertise of the discipline departments and the project management group. Technical personnel generally concentrate on producing the best product possible, often without regard to cost or schedule. In a well control project, quality and schedule generally take priority, although cost is always an important consideration.

SCHEDULING

Planning, measuring, evaluating, forecasting, and controlling are the key responsibilities of the project management team. All aspects of the project must be tracked and managed to ensure effective control of the project. Tracking cannot take place unless a well-defined work plan, budget, and schedule have been developed.

Planning should precede project scheduling (Box 1). For the entire well control project, there must be an explicit operational plan that binds scope, budget, and schedule. A common error of planning is to concentrate solely on schedule and disregard the importance of scope and budget.

The following are the key principles of planning:

• Begin planning before the start of work, not after.

• The people who will actually do the work should be involved in planning and scheduling from the onset.

• The plan must give balanced consideration to the aspects of scope, budget, schedule, and quality.

• The plan should be flexible, including allowances for responding to unexpected changes and with time allotted for review and approvals.

• The plan must be kept simple and without irrelevant details that prevent readability.

• The plan should be distributed to and understood by all parties involved.

TRACKING MODELS

Planning is the first step in project scheduling, but tracking is equally essential. Tracking cannot detect deviations unless there is a master plan or schedule against which to compare actual progress. The

size, complexity, duration, and importance of the well control project dictate the technique used for project scheduling.

The tracking model must be functional and easy to use. Two methods meet these criteria: bar charts (sometimes called Gantt charts) and the critical path method (CPM). Because bar charts are simple and easy to interpret, they are usable by all participants in a project. Fig. 1 (65060 bytes) shows a simple bar chart for a snubbing operation. Bar charts have three drawbacks: They do not show interdependency of activities; they require considerable time for updating; and they do not integrate costs or resources.

A common complaint about Gantt charts is the high level of effort required to keep the charts updated. A significant amount of labor and time must be expended in keeping the charts current because of constantly changing conditions, such as man-hour requirements.

CPM

Both the critical path method (CPM) and the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) are often referred to as network analysis systems. CPM takes a deterministic approach which assigns a single duration to each activity in the network, whereas PERT is a probabilistic approach that deals with three possible times for each activity (optimistic, pessimistic, and normal).

Experience with fast track projects, such as blowouts, has shown CPM to be the preferred method. CPM forces the project team to direct all efforts to a single start date to kick off the project and a single completion date to bring the project under control.

Both Gantt charts and CPM are suitable for well control projects. The Gantt charts are best suited for situations involving activities that do not have significant interdependencies with other activities (such as design work and public relations).

The CPM method is a preferred approach for planning and scheduling more complex well control projects, situations in which activities are highly interdependent, or where there is a need to track resources assigned to the project. CPM uses a network diagram to model the interdependencies of activities.

CPM forces the project team to divide the work into definable units and to determine how work items interface with each other. A well defined work breakdown structure (which shows the primary and secondary responsibilities for each member of the well control team) will greatly simplify the task of generating the CPM network diagram.

Many project managers use precedence diagrams for well control (Fig. 2)(69504 bytes).Fig. 2 (69504 bytes) only shows major events; the numerical coding system, activity duration, and resources have been omitted to simplify the illustration.

These diagrams require fewer activities to describe the project and have great flexibility in sequencing activities and showing relationships between them.

CPM has adapted computer-aided techniques to automate calculations for scheduling and the graphic printout of network diagrams. The use of computers in CPM allows modeling of man-hours, costs, and duration to closely monitor work progress and produce a variety of project management reports.

DECISION TREES

Well control events are unique projects that require quick decisions for critical problems to be solved expeditiously. The project manager must be able to "think on his feet" and react to emergency situations in adverse working conditions, especially during kill operations. Contingency planning for likely scenarios is essential to increase the probability of success.

Decision trees are useful to help the project manager run the job. Fig. 3 is a typical decision tree for a pump to kill operation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Oberlender, C.D., Project Management for Engineering and Construction, McGraw-Hill Inc., New York,1993.

Adams, J.R., and Campbell, B., Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager, Project Management Institute, Drexel Hill, Pa., 1982.

Moder, J.J., Phillips, C.I., and Davis, E.D., Project Management with CPM, PERT, and Precedence Diagramming, third edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1983.

Deming, W.E., Out of the Crisis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1986.

Burati, J.L., "Total Quality Management: The Competitive Edge," Publication No. 10-4, Construction Industry Institute, Austin, April 1990.

Scherkenbach, W.W., The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity, CEE Press Books, Washington, D.C., 1988.

Matthews, F., and Burati, J.L., "Quality Management Organizations and Techniques," Source Document No. 51, Construction Industry Institute, Austin, 1989.

Abel, L.W., et al., Firefighting and Blowout Control, Wild Well Control Inc., Spring Tex., 1994.