Distributed by

Risk Based Inspection: Incorporating

RP 2SIM into SIM strategies
Daniel Atzori, PhD | Senior Analyst | Upstream Intelligence

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies
With contributions from:

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa
www.upstreamintel.com/flow-assurance

Introduction
With low oil prices eroding profit margins, the need to maintain operational
quality and productivity of existing offshore platforms is stronger than ever.
In November 2014, the American Petroleum Institute (API) published a
guidance document titled RP 2SIM: Structural Integrity Management of
Fixed Offshore Structures, suggesting new standards for the inspection,
maintenance and repair (IMR) of assets.
This recommended practice mainly focuses on the evaluation of structural
damage for risk reduction. It is widely expected that these guidelines will
revolutionize the approach to structural integrity management (SIM) across
the Gulf of Mexico, especially for the assessment of fitness-for-purpose of
the structures.
Gulf of Mexico: Oil and Gas Active Platforms
(Gulf of Mexico Fact Sheet, U.S. Energy Information Administration)

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

Particularly relevant in this context is risk based inspection, a process to

ensure asset integrity by fostering a more effective alignment between
decision-making and risk.
The present report provides the outcomes of a series of in-depth interviews conducted with leading personalities of the industry, with the goal
of understanding how to ensure the sustainability of structural items
through the implementation of new approaches to SIM such as risk based
inspection.

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

A proactive approach to structural integrity management

Current approaches to structural integrity management are based on a
reactive maintenance strategy. They do not manage to properly determine
the probability of failure nor the possible consequences related to failure.
Hence, by prescribing fixed time inspections intervals, conventional
methods often cause overspending on assets which do not require urgent
attention and conversely underspending on assets which need investment.
While conventional inspections may be adequate for the majority of structures, they are not seen as suitable for all existing platforms.
Hence, practices adopting a one size fits all approach are often inappropriate to guarantee the sustainability of all structural items, especially those
with a higher commercial value.
Instead, RP 2SIM suggests a holistic approach to the risk management of
all existing offshore platforms throughout their lifecycle. The shift towards
risk based inspection approaches to structural integrity management is
encouraging more proactive strategies, since operators can allocate maintenance budgets ahead of time, handling resources more effectively.
RP 2SIM will encourage a more proactive, risk-orientated approach to
asset management as opposed to simply doing the same inspections every
five years. It is essential to understand the condition of each asset and to
develop a strategy that can adapt as that condition changes through the
end of field life, said Robert Sheppard, Chief Technical Advisor at Energo, a
specialty structural engineering company for the oil and gas industry.
Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

Most of the techniques included in RP 2SIM are already being implemented, albeit sporadically, throughout the Gulf of Mexico. While the majors are
already putting these recommendations into practice, the smaller operators are rapidly catching up by hiring engineering companies.

Defining a SIM strategy based on your risk appetite

The largest operators usually know their risk profile and are able to categorize the integrity of each of their assets. However, most of the smaller ones
do not yet have a systematic approach to the identification and management of risk.
Thus, initially the main challenge for the operators will be to identify the
specific threats to the integrity of each of their plants. An effective evaluation of the structural condition of the assets presupposes reliable and
up-to-date data management systems.
Although there may be initial difficulties in the application of RP 2SIM standards, the benefits of its implementation could be remarkable.
RP 2SIM suggests a sophisticated approach, tailored to the requirements of
each individual platform, in order to manage structural risk throughout the
lifecycle of the asset.

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

New standards have put in one place the lessons learned in the last 20 years.
They will allow to create more proactive, and commercially efficient inspection, maintenance and repair strategies, added Robert Sheppard (Energo).
The introduction of RP 2SIM is triggering a paradigm shift, creating a
shared understanding across the industry concerning the risk assessment of existing offshore platforms. For the first time there is a document
approved by the industry which sets clear directions in this respect.
New approaches to structural integrity management have an inherent
financial value for the industry as a whole. They allow not only to save
money, but also to protect the existing offshore platforms of the Gulf of
Mexico against major threats, from ageing to natural disasters.
In a context of low oil prices, structural integrity management provides
the tools to efficiently manage existing assets, in order to generate higher
profit margins. What is more, the RP 2SIM approach is much more flexible
in terms of timescales and inspection schedules, allowing companies to
define long-term strategies based on their own risk appetite.
Operators will be encouraged to treat every asset individually and to set
their own risk criteria, as long as they are justifiable. Thus, new standards
are likely to provoke a shift towards strategies which allows a more sophisticated assessment of risk.

Understanding risk based inspection (RBI) within the RP

2SIM framework

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals

Risk based inspection is the process of devising inspection plans for the
assets in order to ensure effective implementations of structural integrity
management.
These long-term planning strategies will be conducive to more informed
decision.
This is not a new concept, but the practice itself is not yet well recognized
throughout the industry. However, this is set to change with the introduction of RP 2SIM, said Riaz Khan, Principal of Structural Integrity at the
Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas.

25+ business critical

presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations

According to Khan, risk based inspection developed back in the 1990s as

a more proactive strategy to manage offshore platforms, prioritizing the
most at-risk assets and designing inspection strategies to maintain them
operational throughout their lifecycle.

Practical case studies from

leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

The risk of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico is extremely high and the
economic impact of these events on the business is substantial in terms of
platform failures and cost to industry. According to estimates, the hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed no less than 113 platforms with combined
insured losses to the assets of about of $15 billion.

While evaluating its fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, BP needed to identify the
structures with higher risk of failure in order to understand how to protect
them against the risk of extreme natural events.

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

Crude oil and natural gas production in the Federal Offshore Gulf of
Mexico and the impact of selected hurricanes and tropical storms, 20052012

(Short-Term Energy Outlook Supplement: 2013 Outlook for Gulf of Mexico Hurricane-Related Production Outages)

Several platforms had already been operating for more than twenty years
and were therefore subject to ageing and life extension (ALE) issues.

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

Thus, it was vital to understand how to prioritize the inspections of structural items, in order to effectively preserve their integrity and to prevent
potential threats to the environment and public health.
This was implemented by identifying the platforms which presented high
risk, and thus needed urgent repair, and those were the risk was considered tolerable and whose maintenance could be safely postponed.
Risk based inspection removes wasted investment from the inspection
strategies for assets who do not need to be inspected nor maintained
over a shorter period of time, giving more flexibility in terms of reacting to
market conditions, said Riaz Khan (Petronas).
Later on, Riaz Khan employed a risk based inspection strategy throughout global integrity operations at Petronas, a company which he joined in
2010.
This new approach demonstrated significant gains for Petronas as a business. Allowing to prioritize the inspection and maintenance of the assets,
risk based inspection takes a more proactive approach to risk management
in the long-term, across the whole life of the structure, added Riaz Khan
(Petronas).

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

Applying ALARP principles in line with the risk profile of your

organization
Being based on prescriptive practices in relation to the frequency of
inspections, conventional approaches were expensive and not always
useful to recognize the areas of greatest concern.
In contrast, risk based inspection applies As Low As Reasonably
Practicable (ALARP) principles, thus identifying the assets with require
attention, ranking first those which present higher risk of failure.
Both good engineering practice and cost-benefit analysis help to establish
whether the risk is ALARP. Hence, if budgets decrease, the inspection plans
for the safer assets can be adjusted accordingly, assuming they align with
the risk profile of the organization.
Such an approach also ensures the engineer is abiding by sound standards,
while operating in a manner which is justifiable to both its company and
the regulator.
There are several issues which need to be taken into account to develop
an effective risk based inspection strategy based on ALARP principles, such
as the safety of the workforce employed on offshore installations and the
potential environmental hazard caused by equipment failure.
Thus, it is vital to precisely assess the fatigue damage of ageing offshore
platforms, also in relation to the exposure to different environmental loads
such as waves, currents and winds.

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico

An accurate estimation of risk factors and their potential effects can generate cost savings by extending the operating life of the assets.

2-3 June | Sheraton

Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas

The initial phases of a risk based inspection strategy are based on the
knowledge of the fleet conditions. If these are not known, the inspection and maintenance plan cannot be fully prioritized, said Riaz Khan
(Petronas).

150+ Senior Structural

Integrity professionals

Robert Sheppard (Energo) stressed that first risks need to be properly recognized and assessed, then targets should be set according.

25+ business critical

presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations

Enhancing data management

Practical case studies from

leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

Hence, a lack of reliable data easily leads to wasted budget on inspection.

When engineers do not know the condition of the structures, they often
need to assume that the structure is in the worse possibly condition.

One of the main challenges consist in conducting a comprehensive

inventory, especially in relation to the items at risk of failure, and in properly ensuring the reliability of all the data necessary to evaluate the actual
operating conditions of the structure.
Absent data is a massive issue here, as it precludes a complete understanding of the asset itself, continued Riaz Khan (Petronas).

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

However, also an excessive amount of information can be problematic to

process and analyze. In this respect, several software solutions are available
in order to screen, collect and categorize relevant data.
Operators will certainly be encouraged to improve their own data management strategies, in order to properly evaluate and quantify the risks posed
by a potential failure and to ensure the delivery of corrective intervention
strategies.
In this respect, the development of more efficient monitoring tools to collect large amount of relevant data will further improve structural integrity
management strategies.

Revolutionizing the industry: The arrival of a new type of

engineer
The introduction of risk based inspection strategies is revealing the existence of a significant knowledge gap within the industry between design
engineers and integrity engineers, according to Riaz Khan (Petronas).
While design engineers usually need rules and instructions to follow,
integrity engineers are instead asked to create new strategies based upon
existing data sets.
RP 2SIM will revolutionize the approach to structural integrity. Currently
there are very few engineers who truly understand the benefits and practice of risk based structural management integrity. New recommended
practices will most likely create a new type of engineer, said Riaz Khan
(Petronas).
Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

Innovation is already revolutionizing the industry. The Clear Gulf Joint

Industry Project (JIP), which gathers professionals from the oil and gas
industry and the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, is an interesting
example in this respect.
Clear Gulf JIP is inspired by the same approach which RP 2SIM is implementing. It provides systems to measure the physical properties which
could potentially lead to failure, in order to ensure structural integrity and
prevent interruptions and damage.
Learning from the aerospace industry, in particularly from NASA, our
JIP demonstrates the importance and commercial benefits that can be
achieved by incorporating a preventative maintenance strategy, said David
Brower, founder and president of Astro Technologies, the provider of
instrumentation and monitoring solutions which is collaborating with NASA
for this project.
In the aerospace industry, these new approaches have proven to be
effective means of reducing expenditure and prolonging the lifetime of the
assets, added David Brower.
Overall, innovative strategies have the potential to broaden the technological capabilities of the oil and gas industries and to lead to substantial
savings in constructions and operations.

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

Conclusion
The adoption of RP 2SIM is seen as critical to the evolution of the industry. Implementation of this recommended practice could revolutionize
the industry, allowing operators to be more creative and efficient in the
manner in which they manage their structures.
Strategies such as risk based inspection (RBI) mean that different assets will
be treated differently according to their different risk levels. What is more,
RBI is expected to encourage innovation, while reducing operational costs
and increasing profit margin.
By recommending solutions concerning structural integrity management,
RP 2SIM offers duty holders a comprehensive strategy to overcome flaws
of the current system such as inefficiencies, lost revenues and over-expenditure on low-risk assets.
Hence, a more effective SIM strategy for ageing structures will decrease
the overall asset risk exposure, increasing safety and saving financial
resources.
Overall, the implementation of appropriate engineering decisions and
integrity practices will allow operators to fully benefit from the paradigm
shift taking place in the industry.

Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico
2-3 June | Sheraton
Brookhollow, Houston,
Texas
150+ Senior Structural
Integrity professionals
25+ business critical
presentations on risk-based
inspection strategies,
corrosion management and
mitigation, fatigue analysis,
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa

Are you interested in any of the discussions brought forward in this paper? Check out the Structural
Integrity Management Conference, Gulf of Mexico right here:
http://www.decomworld.com/structural-integrity-management-usa/
Join 150+ Structural Integrity professional to define a SIM strategy to incorporate RP2SIM, mitigate
extreme external events and integrate risk-orientated approach to age management:

Debate the positives and negatives of risk-orientated approaches to IMR and the techniques
you can use to define inspection intervals and the risk profiles of assets
Discover the value of structural monitoring technologies and advanced engineering solutions
to enhance the efficiency and commercial outlook of your fleet
Get exclusive insight into the market innovations and JIPs which are currently under
operation to enhance your perspective on more cost effective solutions to IMR operations
Understand how changes to the regulatory structure will drastically impact your asset
management program and where RP2SIM with influence your SIMS
Discuss the strategies and innovations being employed by leading operators to mitigate the
impact of extreme external events on your at-risk assets
Review new standards and technologies for Mooring Line Integrity to ensure you are taking
the most proactive approach on your floating assets

Expert Speakers Include:

Pat O'Connor
Hugh Westlake
Chair Person
Structural Technical
Authority
ISO 19901-9
SIM Committee
BP
Structural Integrity
Management Conference,
Gulf of Mexico

Nigel Wayne Nichols

Structural Technical
Authority
Petronas

Hongbo Shu
Mooring Systems
SME and Technical
Authority
Shell

Doug Kemp
Offshore Americas &
West Africa Integrity
Advisor
Hess

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Integrity professionals
Contact details:
25+ business critical
presentationsTom
on risk-based
Sapsted
inspection strategies,
Operations Director | Upstream Intelligence
corrosion management
and 375 7523
t: +44 (0)0207
mitigation, fatigue
analysis,
e: [email protected]
metocean data, mitigation
of Extreme Environmental
Events, Mooring Line
Tension, Hull integrity and
new BSEE regulations
Practical case studies from
leading operators,
including: Shell, BP,
Petronas, Hess, Total,
IntelliSIMS, Energo and
Astro Technologies

www.upstreamintel.com/structural-integrity-management-usa
www.upstreamintel.com/flow-assurance