MUSCAT -- A three-day global conference on Well, Reservoir and Facility Management (WRFM) was recently held in Muscat, Oman. The conference was facilitated by the Shell Global WRFM team from Rijswijk, the Netherlands and sponsored by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). PDO is a company that has pioneered many WRFM improvements and continues to be a leader in the Shell Group in applying and improving WRFM practices.
A total of 46 WRFM Leads from ten different lines of business convened in Oman to share their experience with the objective of improving business performance through better WRFM delivery. WRFM is defined as "safely moving hydrocarbons from reservoir pore throat to sales point at the lowest possible cost". The WRFM process enables staff to better perform the end-to-end work flow; looking at surveillance data to monitor well production, analysing performance deviations to identify intervention opportunities, and then to intervene to increase production.
A key feature of the process is that it provides a framework for subsurface and surface staff to align their efforts to achieve business objectives more efficiently. Through a series of presentations, master classes and syndicate work, the event allowed participants to network with their colleagues from different countries and share best practices from which they could adopt the best ones for deployment in their own organisation.
In reference to the conference, Clement Edwards, WRFM Manager JV Excellence stated, "While some WRFM teams are leading in overall WRFM performance, there are always pockets of excellence in other parts of the world, so getting together gives us the chance to share best practices and improve our global performance." On the first day of the conference, the group reviewed current WRFM performance in each country represented. Participants spent the second day discussing their aspirations for WRFM performance.
These discussions were coupled with a visit to the PDO office to see world class WRFM in practice, and supported by a series of master classes to coach participants in what it takes to achieve top quartile WRFM performance. Participants spent the third day discussing what work they have to do to reach their WRFM performance goals. Discussions included the concept of Lean -- the method for removing waste from the WRFM workflows -- technical issues like better metering, deep understanding of our assets through the technical review process, and automated workflow using IT tools.
© Oman Daily Observer 2013
