Most existing studies and literature show that both value engineering and life cycle costing concepts are not used in the upstream sectors of oil and gas, in particular in offshore brownfield projects. This paper will highlight the importance of applying these concepts at the conceptual stage of offshore topside facility projects in order to achieve quality at the lowest possible cost over the product design life, as well as considering the aspect of sustainability. The value engineering methodology and life cycle costing analysis stages are presented.

The paper presents four alternatives for structural materials to demonstrate the optimal solution from value engineering and life cycle costing concepts. The case application focused on steel grating as the traditional material used in offshore platforms, versus glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and aluminium gratings as new alternative materials. This method will provide the end users with an effective tool to select among competing alternatives.

This paper attempts to fill the gap in the existing knowledge in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, focusing on topside facility projects for offshore platforms by contributing to the following areas: applying value engineering and life cycle costing concepts to offshore topside projects at the conceptual and/or design stage.

Keywords:
social responsibility, platform, evaluation phase, application, subsea system, Upstream Oil & Gas, disadvantage, Value Engineering, requirement, life cycle
Subjects:
Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems, Sustainability/Social Responsibility, Floating production systems
Copyright 2017, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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