Products and services within asset integrity management in the Norwegian oil and gas industry: Status quo and innovative trends

Abstract

Owing to commercial opportunities on the Norwegian oil & gas sector, there is a growing demand for products and services for Asset integrity management (AIM). In general, the market demands greater degree of innovation in AIM. Seeking means to simplify complex work processes and at the same time to have a better understanding and awareness of inherent risks. The trends for innovative AIM products and services can always be challenged due to such factors as innovation costs, organizational capacity, technological capacity to drive innovation, as well as underlying business growth potential of the innovation. Other challenges or barriers can include financial constraints, regulatory challenges, and conservative clients to invest in revolutionary products. The purpose of this thesis is to map the current status and to elaborate on the future trends for such products and services on the Norwegian shelf (NCS). It includes a comprehensive literature survey on Asset Integrity Management (AIM) within the Global and Norwegian O&G industry. Also, a market survey of available AIM products and services being offered by Norwegian AIM service providers was conducted to review the status quo. In addition, expert opinion from a number of Norwegian AIM service providers was included through questionnaire and informal interviews to validate results emanating from mapping the existing and new AIM products and services within the sector. The work highlights the status and gaps through a thorough analysis of theory and what is currently available in AIM of oil and gas assets. It highlights trends emerging from service providers on the NCS that are demanded by new asset operational scenarios such as Integrated operations. In this context, various technological capabilities take a leading role seeking significant value creation opportunities in terms of safety, cost, and production. Interestingly, there appears to be various human, technical and organizational issues such as lack of knowledge and/ or technical competence and conservative attitude of operators that regulates the development and deployment of novel Asset integrity management due to its sensitivity in terms of managing asset related uncertainties and vulnerabilities.