Managing upstream assets

Investment in the upstream oil and gas sector is set to fall by over 20% – or $100 billion – this year, the International Energy Agency has warned. The global economic downturn has added a biting commercial imperative for operators to effectively manage their existing fields (many of which are approaching maturity) and their upstream infrastructure.

One of the first business areas that operators should scrutinise is their management of asset integrity, according to Brent Fraser, Upstream Lead Account Executive, Shell Global Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. “The consequences of failing to maintain assets can be significant,” he says. “One study suggests that the cost of corrosion for the US oil and gas sector is of the order of $1.3 billion a year – and that says nothing about less tangible costs that a business may experience.”

Shell Global Solutions has developed a structured methodology for reviewing a company’s asset integrity management system and the status of its equipment – the focused asset integrity review (FAIR‡).

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^{‡FAIR, FieldWare and RRM are Shell trademarks.}