Asset Integrity? - It Should be everyone's business

After being in the Oil and Gas Industry for over 30 years both man and boy , starting at 16 yrs old as a boiler maker welder in the booming UK topside module yards I believe that I have seen and learnt a thing or three .

With over a decade in the Middle East, wetting my brow in UK, Gulf of Mexico Deep water and Australasian waters whilst working for some of the Oil and Gas majors both on sweet and extreme sour fields there are not many integrity related issues that I have not come across nor assisted with their resolution. I have been instrumental in developing integrity systems and processes for both green and brownfield operations , both land , topside and sub sea and one thing for certain is that no oil and gas asset is perfect and beyond improvement! You have to know everything about your core materials, construction process, fluid dynamics , compositions , environmental aspects , operations, maintenance and much much more before you can even begin to understand potential problems.

Believing that your Asset integrity status is someone elses problem is a common mistake in the mindset that can lead to problems , and believing that you can manage your integrity program in "isolation" is another .There is no "silver bullet" that can make your asset totally safe , the best you can do will come with a great deal of hard work and lets face the facts...a large amount of spending! which often becomes a point of contention. Money is always an issue ....lets not hide the elephant in the room and accepting this fact will help you move forward.

There are many things you can do to counter act a reduced budget, and still be pro active whilst working harder on ascertaining risk levels so that you know exactly which aspect of the asset and potential damage mechanism you need to concentrate upon. An integrity program is made up from many facets , just like a jigsaw and unless you manage the pieces correctly you will never have answer to the complete puzzle.

The minute you take your foot off the integrity pedal you are on a countdown to having a potential problem appear, as for every action there is an opposite or equal re action somewhere along your integrity highway .....do not take your eye off the ball !

Just contact me if you have any need for my assistance , site surveys, specific problems, repair strategies , product and vendor knowledge , CMMS audit assistance, RBI support, review of integrity programs and so forth .

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