Software facilitates deepwater development off Nigeria

June 23, 2008
Management software helps project managers navigate the complexity of delivering large construction projects, on time and on budget.

Management software helps project managers navigate the complexity of delivering large construction projects, on time and on budget.

In the case of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co. (SNEPCo), the company used Primavera Systems Inc.’s project management and Primavera’s Pertmaster schedule risk analysis software to assess project feasibility, schedule maturity, and risk readiness of its Bonga Southwest-Aparo deepwater development off Nigeria.

Deepwater exploration, drilling, and construction projects place large demands on people and machines. For this work, project managers need to orchestrate smoothly a complicated array of schedules, deadlines, deliverables, people, and equipment.

Project managers face many random events, such as changes in the weather and mechanical failures. With thousands of people working in concert, even minor delays can result in millions of dollars of lost revenue.

Where the spreadsheet and printed schedules once tracked progress, project management software now enables project managers to work together seamlessly with a single version of the truth to plan for and create what-if scenarios for addressing the innumerable contingencies that arise and to ensure that all resources are managed for utmost efficiency.

Off Nigeria

The Bonga Southwest-Aparo project provides an example of the use of this software. The SNEPCo managed project is about 10 km from its first major deepwater project Bonga, which is 120-km off Nigeria and went on stream in 2005.

The Bonga Southwest-Aparo facilities (see figure) will be in 1,300 m of water and include subsea completed wells, manifolds, flowlines, risers, and a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO). Production will start after 2011.

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The project also will have a pipeline for carrying gas to an onshore LNG plant.

One main prerequisite for sanctioning the project was to determine its commercial viability. To asses this, SNEPCO had to develop an estimate of the schedule, cost, and risks associated with the venture.

The design, procurement, and construction of wells, subsea facilities, pipelines, and the FPSO, involve hundreds of thousands of activities and require construction in multiple international locations. The project also was the first to comply fully with the Nigerian government’s Nigerian Content Directives with regard to in-country engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, and integration activities.

Risk assessment

Shell has mandated use of a single project management platform across the corporation to provide project managers with a consistent, accurate planning environment.

The project planners have access to a networked Oracle database and to Primavera project management and Primavera Pertmaster schedule risk-analysis software. Use of this software enables Shell’s management to assess project feasibility, schedule maturity, and risk readiness.

The project planners first created an estimated project schedule in Primavera’s P5, using benchmarked data from Shell’s knowledge base and localized construction standards. The team then considered risks to the schedule and created a register of risks and opportunities.

After assessment of probabilities and distribution of impact for the registered risks, the team loaded the data into Pertmaster to create a risk model. An interface between P5 and Pertmaster allowed fast data interchange between the tools to create a risk-considered probabilistic schedule.

The added use of Pertmaster allowed the project to put probabilities around possible outcomes and highlight most likely and extreme dates for delivery. The team then judged confidence levels for project success and formed contingency plans as well as cost-exposures risks, which it evaluated and adjusted as necessary.

By using P5, local planners have access to the same schedule at the same time and can view the project at a high level or drill down to a more detailed schedule.

Longer term after sanctioning of the project, multiple planners globally will have simultaneous access to the same project data and master schedule in P5. Everyone will be up-to-date and able to incorporate changes live into the schedule from different locations.

Without project management software, it would be virtually impossible to create, review and collaborate on the complex schedules and risk profiles this large multisource, multifaceted project required. Desktop planning tools are too simplistic for such complex needs.

The team also identified some project risks that may require mitigation planning, such as local labor strikes, potential changes in project scope, and interface issues with multiple contractors.

The author

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Dean Forbes is vice-president, international business, at Primavera Systems Inc. He previously worked for Isis Telecoms and Motorola. Forbes has a BA from Greenwich University.