Abstract
The Praline project was awarded and executed during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrated how the right project management principles created transparency and trust between Contractor and Company so that both parties worked openly during project execution to successfully execute the scope in the required timeframe.
This project showcases how creating the right project environment fostered creative engineering, operational flexibility and collaborative decision making. A gate system was developed which enabled several solutions to run in parallel and focused on key dates for specific decisions which allowed for the final offshore scenario to be vetted. In addition, daily task orientated meetings were held with a small team to communicate updates and plans on specific topics between key stakeholders. All attendees were empowered to make decisions and progress tasks in the meeting. A lean and agile approach was deployed.
The project was able to overcome numerous challenges during a pandemic in a short timeframe by implementing a fast-paced decision-making process which was underpinned by high-level trust between LLOG and Subsea 7. The project shifted from a plan to install the entire pipeline, In-Line Sled (ILS) and Pipeline End Termination (PLET) in a single trip to using multiple assets and mobilisations. The asset changes were required to maintain LLOG's first oil requirements and meant that the design, installation engineering, and procurement activities needed to be condensed and yet still meet high quality and safety standards. The changes in installation assets impacted the structures designs due to the installation equipment and this had a knock-on impact to the procurement and fabrication activities. One example was that the ILS needed to be redesigned to change the mudmat foundation and use an existing foundation from another project. This scope was completed in less than four weeks from the implementation of the vessel change and could only have been done through the transparent and collaborative approach established on the project.
This paper showcases how collaboration and transparency between all stakeholders enabled fast-paced decision making and selection of the optimal offshore solution in a condensed time frame.
