KOC disposes of an expertise that makes it eligible for implementing the different projects and make achievements and inventions that save a lot of time, effort and money. The company strives to provide the best programmes and training courses for its staff in order to keep pace with the latest developments in the world of oil and gas. It also seeks to bring and utilize the latest technological breakthroughs in order to keep its lead position and fill its obligations as a trusted oil exporter in the world market.
Talking about achievements, the Project Management Team (West Kuwait – II), which is led by Abdulaziz al-Najem, was able to realize a new achievement which consists of reducing the required time for well connection from a contractual period of 21 days to 4 days only by adopting a new, invented work technique.
To talk about this technique and the details of the achievement, we met the Senior Project Engineer of the Project Management Team (West Kuwait – II), Mr. Talal al-Shammari, who provided us with expansive and useful information about this.
What is the achievement…?
At the beginning, al-Shammari clarified that they made studies aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of the works, ranging from strategy setting for reducing the total amount of time required to connect the wellhead to starting production. This adds to economic feasibility through early production. When asked about what it means to reduce the period of time, and the nature of the process of the said connection, he responded that reducing the required period of time involves reducing the total period required to implement all the tasks related to the process of drilling the well and starting to produce from it, along with the drilling process itself so that mounting the wellhead will be the only task that remains after the drilling is over.
He added that the required works that are executed until the connection of the wellhead are carried out in coordination with other relevant teams from the West Kuwait Directorate.
About the techniques of work used in this context, he pointed out that they include dismantling all the required works during the process of linking the well with its major components, organizing them in a unique time schedule that allows the company to fully control these works as they are executed in stages, so the team would be able, through the contractor, to execute all the works of putting the flowlines in place in conjunction with the process of drilling the well itself, without having to wait until the drilling is over.
He considered that, by doing this, the team has utilized the principle of “Value Mapping Stream" as they succeeded to use all the “Buffer Zones" available to be executed in conjunction with the process of drilling.
Distribution and follow-up
Al-Shammari asserted that, of course, there are works that should be prepared and executed during the connection of the wells. There are also other parties who are in charge of the execution of those works, as the Fields Development Team, for example, defines the capacity of the oil reservoir, its coordinates and planning for drilling a new well, whereas the other tasks are distributed among the other teams.
He pointed out that the Fields Development team and the Drilling Team are in charge of coordination to define the type of rig needed and the time schedule required for drilling, as the Drilling Team is in charge of transporting the rig to the required place and start the drilling process.
The Project Management Team (2) is in charge of outfitting the crude oil flowline between the well and the production center, the burn pit and the line linking it to the wellhead, making the mechanical tests and handing over the well to the Production Team to define the required place of delivery, along with the operation of the well in the end.
He added that regular meetings of coordination and follow-up are held during the execution of previous tasks with the participation of the relevant teams in order to avoid any difficulties that could affect the time schedule to get the well ready for delivery.
Planning the stream of value
Asking al-Shammari about whether the drilling tasks are stopped during the creation of the flowlines, he responded that these tasks continue normally because they are part of the connecting strategy of the team because the flowlines are made in conjunction with the drilling.
Concerning the commitment by the team to improve the production process, al-Shammari said that they follow the principle of the “Value Stream Planning", pointing out that it is a resilient management procedure that helps to figure out the processes and steps that are necessary for getting a given product and delivering it to the target customer. It also helps to define, analyze and improve the steps followed in the production to get a product or service with added value.
The buffer zones mean the periods between the different activities, which are not dependent on each other and which could be executed jointly. Consequently, it is possible to integrate these periods, reduce the sequence of operations and execute them in conjunction for getting the product of service very quickly.
Working in stages
Al-Shammari said that they have divided the said activities in three stages. The first stage consists of making the flowlines, the burn pit and the linking line. The work starts with the drilling, even well before and along the line, and throughout the period of execution.
During the second stage, the manufacturing tasks are separated from the mounting tasks, so that the manufacturing is done early, and integrating the activities that are done at the same time as the drilling process. In the third phase, however, the wellhead is mounted in 4 days starting after the drilling. Then, the well is delivered to the production team.
Our goals consisted of getting to the best formula to execute the tasks in such a way as to guarantee the speed of execution and the sequence of the activities. This was achieved by the Project Management team (West Kuwait – 2). Well connection is done in direct coordination with other teams as Mr. al-Shammari said, including the Production Team, the Fields Development Team and the Drilling Team. Other relevant teams of the Directorate and outside of also took part in order to plan and review the technical aspects and update information.
Coordination consisted of weekly meetings to stand on the development in the drilling process, setting up work plans, reviewing them, checking for potential problems and coordinating efforts to overcome them.
Practical Benefit
The question that may rise to the mind about the connection of wells is relates to the practical benefit that Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) can draw from the reduction of the connection period.
In the context of his response to this question, al-Shammari asserted that there is a great benefit, showing a table illustrating the whole quantity of early production from the 26 wells that have been connected by the team, which reached more than 700,000 barrels in the period from June 2022 to February 2023, which means good financial revenues.
Al-Shammari concluded that now the implementation of a new connection mechanism is utilized on all the wells in West Kuwait.
The Result: Coordination and Cooperation are key to success
The Project Management Team (West Kuwait- II) leader, Abdulaziz al-Najem, confirmed that the achievement of reducing the time for connecting the wells and the possibility of profiting from early production is the result of efforts exerted by his team members and the other teams involved. He pointed out that continuous coordination and cooperation between them had a great effect on the success of the strategy that has been developed scientifically and in conformity with the most up-to-date project development techniques in the world in order to maximize the benefit from each activity and attempting to develop it without reliance on traditional methods.
Al-Najem added that crude oil flowline projects and related tasks are considered as a vital and effective element as they are directly linked to the production of crude oil and, as a result, they are serving the general strategy of Kuwait Oil Company to reach target production rates.
He clarified that performance development, team motivation to invent new ideas, and task and activities betterment are realized through working environment improvement, ease of communication between the administration and the work team and the provision of continuous training and learning opportunities. The team members are motivated through respecting new ideas, enhancing team loyalty and belonging and providing a suitable atmosphere that enhances the team spirit.
Al-Najem ended up with addressing his thanks to all the teams that contributed to this achievement, which in essence consists of the existence of a well-contrived work mechanism for coordination and the exchange of information between the teams of the directorate and the other concerned external teams.
A Lecture to shed light on the Achievement
The Technical Staff Development and Administrative Affairs Team related to the Project Support Services Group, organized a lecture to shed light on the achievements accomplished by the Project Management Team (West Kuwait – 2)
This event was attended by the director of the Project Support Service Group, Haifa al-Hajiri, the Director of Mega Projects Group (2) Eyad al-Khayat, and the Director of al-Ahmadi Projects Group Khaled Abul.
The lecture was given by engineer Hamad al-Awadi who clarified that the achievement contributed to speed up production in the wells and increase the production capacity for West Kuwait, after the idea was implemented in 26 wells between June 2022 and January 2023.
