UK guidelines target improved offshore maintenance

July 31, 2015
Oil & Gas UK has unveiled new guidelines to minimize the frequency and duration of planned maintenance shutdowns on the UK continental shelf, and to improve the reliability and safety of offshore installations.

Offshore staff

LONDONOil & Gas UK has unveiled new guidelines to minimize the frequency and duration of planned maintenance shutdowns on the UK continental shelf, and to improve the reliability and safety of offshore installations.

The “Guidance for the Efficient Execution of Planned Maintenance Shutdowns” (PMSDs) sets out good practice for all types of planned shutdowns including corrective, breakdown maintenance, inspection activities, engineering and construction work, ranging from new tie-ins to modifications.

Topics covered include minimizing the frequency and duration of PMSDs, good planning and delivery, and ensuring that the industry identifies resources required well in advance.

UK offshore production efficiency – a measure of how much oil and gas an offshore installation actually produces compared to its maximum production potential – declined from 80% in 2004 to 60% in 2012, the agency claimed, leading to a substantial decline in production.

Since 2013, the Production Efficiency Task Force has been working on remedial measures with the industry, and efficiency has recovered to 65%.

Oil & Gas UK’s operations director Oonagh Werngren said: “Better management of summer shutdowns, when major maintenance and construction to bring new production onstream are undertaken, is seen as one of the principal ways of improving production efficiency.

“Companies have been addressing this and a recovery in production efficiency, along with an improvement in production performance, is emerging. This guidance document will help cement and build on that progress.

“The UK oil and gas industry is working to address its high cost base and improve efficiency so that competitiveness can be restored allowing it to become an attractive destination for investors again.”

07/31/2015