Addressing the Challenges of Obsolescence and Extended Life Operations

This paper examines the increasingly significant issue of obsolescence and its prevalence in the light of extended life operations in the offshore oil and gas industry. Obsolescence can be likened to an insidious creeping plaque; it hides in the wake of new and changing technologies to take everyone by surprise around 10 years into the system life cycle. To mitigate this problem a robust system of obsolescence management is necessary. This view is endorsed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which recommended last year that the energy industry develops a corporate culture that embeds an ageing life extension (ALE) philosophy into asset integrity management for the long-term future (Health and Safety Executive, 2014). An important part of this process is the establishment of comprehensive procedures, systems and recording that allow for continuous monitoring of assets plus anticipation of issues, so that these can be managed proactively. A progressive approach to obsolescence assessment involves offshore site surveys, reporting and detailed design studies. The resultant inventory is then subject to further assessment, using established methodologies and weighting factors to determine vulnerability, impact and risk. Sophisticated database systems now available for the recording, storage and analysis of such “intelligent” inventories. These allow operators to gain a clear and realistic picture of their assets, their associated systems and their place in the lifecycle. Such databases also provide a platform to explore tactics and strategies for removing or mitigating any obsolescence risk. Nervousness within the industry about the impact on everyday activities is largely unjustified: both obsolescence assessments and system migrations can be carried out with minimal intrusion on normal day to day operations. Today's innovative migration upgrades cause near zero disruption to field wiring. Furthermore, when the value of such exercises is considered in terms of accident prevention and safeguarding against future costly disruptions, there can be no question as to the validity of such investments. With many assets remaining in production for over 25 years, their associated control and automation systems continue to be used well beyond their life expectancy. Technology marches on, process functionality changes, the availability of spare parts declines, and eventually manufacturers and third parties are unable to provide technical support. Collectively, these issues pose major risks to production, safety and the environment.