Improving Oil and Gas Field Production
Maintaining and Growing the Base
Current rising oil and gas prices create an ideal time for energy producers to increase revenue by optimizing productivity.
MTG recently conducted a project with a leading, independent energy producer to increase the performance of a key U.S. asset.
While throughput improvement was the primary impetus for commencing the relationship, our client recognized the need to accomplish two other things:
- Provide foremen and lease operators with the tools, techniques, and required behavior necessary to realize production improvements at the well level. This created the basis for a productive partnership.
- Streamline existing reporting systems
Beginning with an assessment, we reviewed operations, the organization structure, and all relevant support functions. The key deliverable agreed upon for the project was a 3 percent increase in base production. This would be achieved by focusing on two aspects of production performance: increasing rate and reducing downtime.
Project delivery was divided into three distinct work streams:
- Execution Control Systems (ECSSM)
- Well management
- Training
This enabled the delivery of results in a timely manner by creating awareness of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and their variance from targeted values, in addition to developing and implementing tools and techniques at the well level to eliminate daily variances. The content for each of the work streams was as follows:
ECSSM
- Identified “business imperatives”: the identification, definition, and ownership of KPIs appropriate to the levels of the organization that drive performance improvement
- The design and automation of specific reports aligned to behavioral change and designed to highlight target variances
- Implementation of timely and structured meetings to address report variances through actions, assigned responsibilities, and completion due dates
Well Management
- Developed Best Demonstrated Practices (BDPs) for well intervention using workshop forums. Established the BDPs and implementation through coaching and follow-up.
- Introduced the concept of Risk–Based Well Visits (RBWV), where the need to make daily visits to each well is reviewed for each route. A formulated risk approach was designed specifically for the client. The risk review gave consideration to volumes, safety, and equipment age, etc. Once established, the process was implemented and embedded through training, field coaching, and follow-up.
- Increased Well Review frequency from biannual to monthly to provide lease operators, foremen, and engineers the forum to discuss, by exception, poor well performance. In addition to identifying actions to correct poor performance, these meetings were also a forum for knowledge transfer within the client organization.
- Route reevaluation: Reviewed each lease operator’s well route (taking into consideration well type, number of wells per route, geography, distance traveled, etc.) to develop new routes that increased lease operators’ effectiveness and provided more on-site time per well.
- Improved compressor performance by:
- Developing reports at the lease operator level to track availability percentage
- Designing visual inspection standards for well-head compressor maintenance
- Improving vendor metric tracking: holding vendors accountable for poor performance and the penalties associated with poor performance.
Training
All activities were supported through training and coaching to affect the behavioral change required to make the effort sustainable. Training courses were aligned to client-specific needs:
- Conflict resolution
- Effective meetings
- Root cause analysis, etc.
MTG’s approach is different from that of other technical consulting companies. Our methodology is based on behavior change and continuous improvement resulting from the release of “latent people potential.” The key to our success is working closely with our clients to design processes, tools, and methods, such that they gain understanding of the intent of such changes and, as a result, gain greater ownership.
MTG regards its clients as the technical experts in their field. We coach and train them in how they can meld and use their skills to support the systems and processes that we jointly designed and implemented.
Our key deliverable for any client is that of sustainability, both in the processes implemented and the results delivered.
The Sustainability Audit
A “Sustainability Derrick” having two legs was designed for the client. The audit is a repeatable process undertaken by our clients biannually, at a minimum:
- Elements – A series of checks to ensure all elements (meetings, data, and reports) are in place and being effectively used.
- Behavior – A series of checks that ensure that expected behaviors, as a result of the change process, are being consistently displayed.
Following an initial base-setting audit, a selected client audit team was trained in the use of the Derrick and MTG audit methods.
The Results
This client’s vision (coincidentally, the vision of most companies in this sector) is to:
Maintain and grow the base
All elements are in place, effectively used, and driving behavioral change and continuous improvement.
Operationally, MTG exceeded the deliverable of a 3 percent improvement (which our client initially thought was unreachable). So far we have delivered 6 percent over base and are confident of continued success. This improvement translates into the client being 16 percent over production budget at this time. The decline curve has been sharply changed.
In our client’s words, this is a “phenomenal result.”
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
- A project focused on performance improvement of base wells
- Improvement of 6 percent over base, against a promise of 3
- Doubling the performance against budget from 8 percent to 16 percent—arresting the rate of decline
- Return on Investment of 8:1
- Redesign of client management reporting systems
- Lease operators trained in new well intervention “tool set”
- Increase in available time for foremen to spend in the field
- Emphasis on sustainability
