Top 10 brownfield rules

Every project is different and comes with its own unique challenges, however ADIL has developed a set of golden rules which provide the industry with a best practice approach to delivering value in brownfield developments in an increasingly constricted marketplace. Peter Brawley explains.

Images from ADIL.

Rule 1: Business case

Brownfield projects are subject to more execution risks than greenfield projects so the business case needs to be robust to delays and increases in cost.

Rule 2: Strategic fit

Early in field life when production is high, all focus will be on maintaining a high operating efficiency. If a brownfield project is being implemented to improve the operating efficiency then this is a good fit.

Late in field life, the focus will tend to be on maintaining the integrity of an aging asset. Tying back a new field and trying to extend the life of an old asset may not be a good fit.

Rule 3: Value ranked

Once assured, the project should be ranked against the work scopes such as integrity, drilling and maintenance to ensure bed space will be available. This is an opportunity cost which must not be underestimated.

Rule 4: Jacket and topsides structure

Early in the project the capacity of the topsides and jacket to bear additional weight must be understood to allow a high level assessment of the project feasibility, taking into account likely growth in weight during the design process. This seems like an obvious step however it is only at the end of detailed design that the weight of a brownfield project is fully understood.

Rule 5: Alternatives

It is also good practice to consider alternatives to brownfield and minimize the scope of the project. There are several examples where unnecessary projects have been carried out - if a project can be deleted from the ‘to-do list’ or can be reduced in scope, this frees up the asset to carry out more valuable work.

Rule 6: Bed space capacity

It is essential that an accurate assessment is made of the bed space and that senior management commits to this allocation, taking into account the opportunity cost this represents. If additional accommodation is needed this must be resourced and committed to at the point of project sanction.

Rule 7: Definition

Greenfield projects are normally sanctioned at the end of front-end engineering design (FEED), but for brownfield projects the full scope is usually only fully understood at the end of detailed design. The aim should be to have completed most of the detailed design at the point of project sanction. This will require careful planning and discipline but it is worth striving for as it will significantly reduce risk during the project delivery.

Rule 8: Host systems

Project managers should consider the asset’s host systems to ensure capacities; condition and connections have been confirmed before sanction. In some cases performance tests should be carried out to confirm the capacity has not deteriorated with time. The state of the physical connections must also be checked to ensure their integrity. We advocate the Cᶟ formula – check, check and check again.

Rule 9: Organizational capability

Organizational capability must match project complexity. Our approach is to use lean teams to speed up communications and reduce costs. In particular, sufficient resources must be applied to interface with the operations team and their technical authorities who will have to approve the designs.

Rule 10: Performance management

The final rule is to define and plan the performance management method for execution – from weekly progress meetings to deep-dive reviews.

Ultimately these rules are about assessing project preparedness and driving maximum value from investment.The final element for all teams should be at project closeout when it is important to look back and consider the lessons learned. Whether performed by forensic analysis or facilitated sessions, the outcome should be the same, to make sure companies are best placed to optimize from their brownfield developments.

Peter Brawley is the head of brownfield and operations at independent energy consultancy ADIL.With a wealth of offshore UK project experience gained through more than 35 years in senior roles with a major oil and gas operator, he has held a number of project and development management roles throughout his career and has managed projects from development through to construction. Peter joined ADIL in May 2014.