Project integrated management system framework for upstream oil and gas contractors

Abstract

Certification to the Quality Management System standard (ISO 9001), Environmental Management System standard (ISO 14001), and Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard (OHSAS 18001) is a pre-requisite requirement for tender to the upstream oil and gas contractors set by the oil and gas companies (client). The main issue within the Management Systems of these upstream oil and gas contractors is that separate Management System requirements were established either at the organisation level to meet the organisation requirements or at the project level to meet the oil and gas companies specific requirements. The aim of this research is to propose the Project Integrated Management System (IMS) Framework for application by upstream oil and gas contractors in meeting both the organisation and client requirements. In this study, a mixed method was used: survey, focus group interviews, document study and observation. First, to examine the IMS implementation in the oil and gas industry, questionnaires were sent to all 32 registered contractors with the Malaysia Oil and Gas Service Council (MOGSC), but only 6 contractors responded. The data was analysed using IBM SPSS. The findings showed the similarities in the approaches used in the IMS implementation. To understand further, focus group interviews were conducted with seven personnel of quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE) experts, who have 10 to 30 years of experience working in the upstream oil and gas projects. The analysis of the interview data was based on deductive approach, that is pre-determined themes such as business processes involved, documentation structure, application of risk and process approaches, and the scope of their management systems, were selected from the questionnaire. The study concluded with three proposed components to form the Project IMS Framework: (i) five stages of approaches; (ii) hierarchy of documents; and (iii) degree of integrations. The five stages of approaches include review of contractual requirements, identification of the commonalities of the deliverables, risk-based approach, process-based approach, and integration of the risk and process using plan-do-check-act (PDCA), and responsible accountable consulted and informed (RACI) concepts. The framework was validated by one upstream oil and gas contractor at their Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) project. The result indicated that the proposed Project IMS Framework met both organisation and client requirements on the management systems. Given that there is a lack of detailed framework for the development of the Project IMS from the perspective of the upstream oil and gas contractors, this Project IMS framework may be used by them in their projects to comply with both client and organisation requirements.