Review and discussion of production assurance program

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review, discuss and further develop the production assurance (PA) concept; and to define and describe a typical production assurance program (PAP) and its elements.Design/methodology/approachAn explorative literature study covering PA and dependability concept was carried out on contemporary literature. During the course of the study, meetings and discussions with a number of experts in Sweden and Norway were performed. Different types of data and examples from the oil and gas industries are used to illustrate and support the discussions.FindingsThis paper indicates that the concept of PA helps the decision maker to estimate whether a production plant is able to meet customer requirements, as it provides information about the production plant's delivery capacity, production rate and ability to deliver according to design or customer demands. PAP can provide a basis for effective production control.Research limitations/implicationsThe material analysed was mainly related to the oil and gas industry. However, the findings and discussion can be transferred to other areas of application, such as mine production plants and chemical process plants.Practical implicationsA PAP is a valuable tool for production plant managers and engineers, not only for documenting a production plant's performance, but also for providing decision support for the development and optimization of the production plant to improve the plant's performance and reduce risk and uncertainties.Originality/valueIn this paper the concept of dependability is extended to include capacity performance and customer requirements or market demand, which provides a measure for delivery assurance or plant production performance in relation to customer requirements. This paper also develops a generic PAP to achieve a high level of delivery assurance.

Production performance analysis during operation phase: A case study

“…These consequently causes significant problems, to the engineers and managers, when analysing PP of a system during operation phase. 15,17,18 Based on the above discussion, it is an important requirement to consider the impact of the timedependent operational conditions when analysing the PP of a system. In this article, a new methodology is proposed, which considers the complex and fastchanging nature of the time-dependent operational conditions.…”

“…These consequently causes significant problems, to the engineers and managers, when analysing PP of a system during operation phase. 15,17,18…”

On RAM performance of production facilities operating under the Barents Sea harsh environmental conditions

“…During operation phase, RAM analysis is used to determine how well a system meets its established requirements. It also provides key input to operation cost-benefit ratio, production rate prediction, business continuity, risk and safety barriers assessments, spare parts planning, and emergency plans, for decision-making on field development, future investment strategies, inventory management, and design modifications Barabady and Kumar, 2008;Barabady et al, 2010;Calixto, 2013;Misra, 2008;Naseri et al, 2016;Stapelberg, 2009;Zio, 2009;Zio et al, 2006).…”

Subsea maintenance service delivery: Mapping factors influencing scheduled service duration

“…Mapping the factors that may be acting on these activities will provide a firmer basis for their control and performance prediction. This can contribute to production gains through production performance management [10,11] and service efficiency improvement. The objective of this paper is to identify the range of delivered subsea maintenance services and to map factors that influence the scheduled service duration and the schedule efficiency.…”