
Tired of wasting time and money during a rig acceptance inspection because the equipment and the crew weren’t ready for the acceptance survey to start? Or worse yet – are you tired of missing drilling windows because you found so many issues with the rig at acceptance that remediation put you past your drop dead date? Rig acceptance is a critical verification activity intended to assess suitability, safety, conformance, and performance during a rig uptake program. A well-designed rig acceptance costs less time and money to perform, but more importantly, it reduces the risk that the rig will have problems that delay your campaign.
Rig Acceptance
A well-designed rig acceptance program is one that maximizes both efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is a measure of the effort required to get the result, and effectiveness is a measure of how well the result meets your requirements. Optimizing both may require you to consider new methods for rig acceptance, including incorporating self-assessment methods into the comprehensive acceptance program.
“Self-assessment” in this context means performing elements of the assessment process using trusted personnel readily available to the rig team. This may reduce mobilization and manpower costs, but more significantly it can minimize time wasted by not being ready when the acceptance team arrives. If done right, using self-assessment methods as part of a comprehensive rig uptake program can improve efficiency without impacting effectiveness.
Self-assessment is not about going it alone. The value of an independent third-party in designing and executing acceptance programs is well established and, in some cases, required to get the desired result. For the best results, the self-assessment portion of the acceptance program should use tools (checklists, inspection plans) and technology (results collection, analysis and reporting) provided by the third party responsible for the overall acceptance program. This ensures that all self-assessment results are aligned with the overall approach and goals of the acceptance program.
It is equally important to understand that self-assessment is not about asking rig owners to do the assessment themselves. Rather, the purpose of the rig acceptance program is to obtain recent and trusted proof that verifies what the owner has promised in his tender response.
The real key to successful incorporation of self-assessment methods is to understand where these methods will have a positive impact on the results. A typical rig acceptance inspection has three components:
- A capability/condition survey which assesses the specified capability and physical condition of the equipment.
- A suitability survey which determines if the equipment systems have the safety, conformance, performance, and availability required for the specific drilling program
- A certification survey which provides documented (certificate) proof of conformance to a specific regulation, standard or requirement.
Each of these components has a preparation phase and an execution phase. During the preparation phase the readiness for the acceptance activity is confirmed. For example, preparation almost always includes assessment and confirmation that:
- The vessel certificates are valid
- The equipment systems and vessel support systems are in fact on the vessel and operational
- The rig owner’s personnel are available, and the inspection activities have been accommodated in the schedule
Using tools and technology provided by the independent third party responsible for the overall program, the preliminary assessment steps can be executed via self-assessment before the third party inspector mobilizes to the site to execute and complete the acceptance program.
The value of such a preliminary self-assessment was demonstrated during a recent acceptance activity. The survey team arrived on the rig expecting the equipment systems to be ready and available for acceptance. The equipment systems were on the rig, as the contractor had assured the operator and the survey team. However, the installation had been delayed and several key components of the equipment system were not functional. The result was a 2-week delay in the start of the inspection program (and drilling campaign) while the surveyors remained on the rig.
Executing the preliminary and preparation activities using self-assessment methods can be a very cost-effective way to ensure the rig acceptance activities that require the third party surveyors to be on site are executed efficiently and effectively, reducing the overall cost of the acceptance program without impacting the effectiveness.
In general, rig acceptance activities that are focused on assuring that the systems are ready for inspection lend themselves well to self-assessment methods. Inspection activities that are focused on the suitability or certification of equipment are less suitable for self-assessment as they require the specialized value a third party provides. In most cases, if a certification is required, self-assessments are not applicable, as the certifying agency would require that they witness and approve all activities in order to certify them.
Athens Group Services designs rig uptake acceptance programs to accommodate self-assessment methods when appropriate. Our programs can support:
- Independent self-assessment using tools and technology supplied by Athens Group Services (checklists, recording and reporting)
- Remote assistance (by Athens Group Services experts) during the independent self-assessment
- Remote survey by Athens Group Services experts
- Full on-site survey by an Athens Group Services surveyor
Contact us to start the discussion about how incorporating self-assessment methods into your rig uptake projects can reduce costs and impact without reducing the quality and effectiveness of your outcomes.