Preliminary Technical Agenda

Monday, 22 March 2010

1800–1900 hours

Badge and delegate pack collection

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

0900–1230 hours

Session 1: What is Commissioning?

Commissioning covers activities required to take a project from the construction phase to the operating
phase. In reality there is no universal interpretation of the boundaries between construction ready for
commissioning and hand over to production operation.

Activities such as mechanical and electrical completion, pre-commissioning, pre-startup and hot
commissioning are all related with a commissioning period. Commissioning is however a dynamic
process where the activities and sequence hereof depends on project execution strategy and company
and client expectations. The question is therefore: “What is commissioning?” Or in other words how are the boundaries and the activities in commissioning understood?

1400–1730 hours

Session 2: Goal: Safe Start-up - Safety, Cost and Time

A safe start-up of new facilities should be the main goal of the commissioning phase. Safety belongs
to the spirit of the commissioning during the execution of the site tests while other parts of the plant
are under construction. A rigorous commissioning methodology checks all functionalities of a new
installation with air and water. The majority of technical issues are discovered during this phase and
can be fixed in a non-hydrocarbon environment.

At start-up, introduction of actual fluids is then apprehended in a safe way and the few remaining
tests will be performed on the equipment which needs hydrocarbon. The best insurance for the
future operational team to get safety awareness is then to be part of the commissioning team.

1900 hours

Dinner

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

0900–1230 hours

Session 3: Commissioning Management

The commissioning of a new oil & gas facility is a time of high risk. Many complex processes have to
be executed simultaneously under time constraints; hence why many things can go wrong.
The challenge is big especially for brownfield projects where a new facility has to be integrated with
existing facilities that are often more than 25 years old.

The need for improved project coordination and control on contractor and project management
consultant by the plant’s operations and controlling team is imperative for successfully and safely
achieving the commissioning requirements.

This session will set focus on the aspects around planning and management of the commissioning
process. We will discuss management of the interface between pre-commissioning, mechanical
completion and commissioning, and we will go through management aspects of commissioning and
the handover to production and initial start up of the new facility.

1400–1730 hours

Session 4: Commissioning Strategies

Commissioning activities start during FEED phase. This is when contract type and hand over principles are defined. Commissioning can be done by company or by contractor. In that case, company shall have a
supervision team and contractor scope shall be clearly written in the call for tender.

Commissioning shall be organised, in order to be better managed: on–shore, off–shore, brownfield vs. greenfield, construction site 1, site 2, etc. Management schemes shall reflect these splits and contingency plans anticipated. The other topic is the transfer of responsibilities when performing start-up activities while part of the plant is still under construction. What are the various actors roles and responsibilities? This session is designed to share various experiences in the commissioning contractual strategy and hand over to operation.

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