Sector: Oil & Gas

By Jonathan Norman
January 24th 2018

Are we getting better at Project Initiation? Highlight Report

The UK has demonstrated a good track record for major project delivery when the conditions for success are right. But too often insufficient time is spent at the start of projects creating those conditions. This means that too often the UK track record for major project delivery has been poor.

As the Major Projects Association Chairman Sir Tim Laurence explains, “We do know that we should take time on initiation, but we are not always firm enough in our demands for time and resources to make sure everything is as clear as we can get it.”

Given the scale of the UK’s ambition to invest in major projects as a critical driver for the economy, it is vital that this performance in the early stages of projects is turned around. Since the Major Projects Association’s formation in 1981, many events have been held and many reports have been written in the attempt to understand why major projects go well and to learn when they go wrong. Getting major projects set up right from the start is repeatedly highlighted as the critical factor in project success and, conversely, its absence usually leads to failure. The Major Project Association’s recently published handbook on the subject highlights some fundamental lessons to aid major project professionals avoid the mistakes of the past. Delivered as the “ten tenets of major projects initiation” it is intended to help senior level sponsor, client and supply chain leaders across the public and private sectors.

Despite this major effort across the sector to analyse and improve performance, the question remains “are we getting better at Project Initiation?” It is a question that will be tackled at a forthcoming Major Projects Association discussion designed to help project delivery professionals to better understand how project initiation techniques are evolving to provide major projects with the best possible start.

By Jonathan Norman
November 11th 2015

Energy Sector Transformations for a Low Oil-price world Full Report

After a 5 year period of unprecedented stability, global oil prices appear to have re-entered their normal commodity price cycle with a fall from over $100 to less than $60 in the last 15 months, with most predicting that prices will stay lower for longer than in the last price downturn in 2008. There have been at least 5 similar price fall events in the last 30 years, but will the response of the energy sector and host governments be different this time?

Energy sector investment plans are being scaled back with most companies significantly reducing, their capital investment programmes in new projects by an average reduction of approximately 30%. At the same time Operators are seeking to drive deflation into both capital and cash costs to secure competitive returns to investors and to shore up weakened balance sheets. Key questions facing the energy sector are:

1) What are the short and longer term impacts of this for Governments, Operators, and the Supply Chain?
2) Will there be a ‘mind-set’ shift to a drive for standardization on industry-led development project solutions, and will the sector learn how to collaborate more efficiently and effectively together (e.g. on technology, resource access, engineering process and solutions) to deliver more consistent competitive investment returns performance to shareholders and stakeholders?
3) Will the energy sector use the current price environment to re-invent itself as more efficient and less wasteful against a backdrop of still needing to be able to manage big risks in exchange for preferential returns?
4) Is today’s low price environment the catalyst the energy sector needs to address reform and evolution of energy sector practices and behaviours that could deliver more consistent and competitive long run performance?

Members from all sectors are encouraged to attend this seminar which will be addressing the topic of organisational and sectoral transformation within an environment of budget cuts.

Event timings 9.00 – 16.30. Detailed programme to follow.

By Jonathan Norman
November 11th 2015

Energy Sector Transformations for a Low Oil-price world Highlight Report

After a 5 year period of unprecedented stability, global oil prices appear to have re-entered their normal commodity price cycle with a fall from over $100 to less than $60 in the last 15 months, with most predicting that prices will stay lower for longer than in the last price downturn in 2008. There have been at least 5 similar price fall events in the last 30 years, but will the response of the energy sector and host governments be different this time?

Energy sector investment plans are being scaled back with most companies significantly reducing, their capital investment programmes in new projects by an average reduction of approximately 30%. At the same time Operators are seeking to drive deflation into both capital and cash costs to secure competitive returns to investors and to shore up weakened balance sheets. Key questions facing the energy sector are:

1) What are the short and longer term impacts of this for Governments, Operators, and the Supply Chain?
2) Will there be a ‘mind-set’ shift to a drive for standardization on industry-led development project solutions, and will the sector learn how to collaborate more efficiently and effectively together (e.g. on technology, resource access, engineering process and solutions) to deliver more consistent competitive investment returns performance to shareholders and stakeholders?
3) Will the energy sector use the current price environment to re-invent itself as more efficient and less wasteful against a backdrop of still needing to be able to manage big risks in exchange for preferential returns?
4) Is today’s low price environment the catalyst the energy sector needs to address reform and evolution of energy sector practices and behaviours that could deliver more consistent and competitive long run performance?

Members from all sectors are encouraged to attend this seminar which will be addressing the topic of organisational and sectoral transformation within an environment of budget cuts.

Event timings 9.00 – 16.30. Detailed programme to follow.

By Jonathan Norman
November 11th 2015

Energy Sector Transformations for a Low Oil-price world Short Report

After a 5 year period of unprecedented stability, global oil prices appear to have re-entered their normal commodity price cycle with a fall from over $100 to less than $60 in the last 15 months, with most predicting that prices will stay lower for longer than in the last price downturn in 2008. There have been at least 5 similar price fall events in the last 30 years, but will the response of the energy sector and host governments be different this time?

Energy sector investment plans are being scaled back with most companies significantly reducing, their capital investment programmes in new projects by an average reduction of approximately 30%. At the same time Operators are seeking to drive deflation into both capital and cash costs to secure competitive returns to investors and to shore up weakened balance sheets. Key questions facing the energy sector are:

1) What are the short and longer term impacts of this for Governments, Operators, and the Supply Chain?
2) Will there be a ‘mind-set’ shift to a drive for standardization on industry-led development project solutions, and will the sector learn how to collaborate more efficiently and effectively together (e.g. on technology, resource access, engineering process and solutions) to deliver more consistent competitive investment returns performance to shareholders and stakeholders?
3) Will the energy sector use the current price environment to re-invent itself as more efficient and less wasteful against a backdrop of still needing to be able to manage big risks in exchange for preferential returns?
4) Is today’s low price environment the catalyst the energy sector needs to address reform and evolution of energy sector practices and behaviours that could deliver more consistent and competitive long run performance?

Members from all sectors are encouraged to attend this seminar which will be addressing the topic of organisational and sectoral transformation within an environment of budget cuts.

Event timings 9.00 – 16.30. Detailed programme to follow.

By Jonathan Norman
May 1st 2007

Is The Secret of Successful Projects in The Management of Design and Engineering Full Report

Major projects face many hazards that can jeopardise success if not managed skilfully. Some of the risks facing project managers are foreseeable, others come as nasty surprises. One of the most critical determinants of project outcome lies in the management of design and engineering, which should clearly be controlled by the project manager. However, this is an area where problems can be expected to afflict every major project.

With contributions from various industry sectors, including highways, space, oil and gas, nuclear submarines and construction, the seminar looked at factors involved in the management of design from the viewpoint of the different stakeholders involved in a project. There were presentations on the ways in which design teams are drawn together, organised and managed, the influence of contractual relationships, and the importance of early and effective investment in design briefs and front-end engineering.

By Jonathan Norman
November 15th 2002

Creating a Workforce Fit to Deliver Major Projects Full Report

This seminar looked at how to nurture the skills, health, welfare and motivation of the major projects workforce.

By Jonathan Norman
June 19th 2001

Transfer of Project Management Competence within and Across Organisations Full Report

The seminar was set up in response to the recognition that the effective transfer of project management knowledge is not always easy.

By Jonathan Norman
April 29th 1999

The Learning Organisation Full Report

The value of human resources in delivering major projects successfully and how to build a culture of learning to thrive.

By Jonathan Norman
December 2nd 1996

Decommissioning Major Projects Full Report

If the post-war period was all about build, build, build, then the early years of the 21st century have put the focus firmly on the challenges of decommissioning the complex and often now hazardous structures built for the nuclear, oil and gas extraction, and other industries.

By Jonathan Norman
July 8th 1982

Oil and Gas Financing Full Report

Financing and investment for oil and gas projects from the North Sea to Alaska.