The operation and maintenance of an ever increasing amount of information and data related to assets and processes costs enormous amounts of money. Estimates indicate that the information handling costs during the lifecycle of an offshore installation is equal to the installation’s construction cost. Information Quality Management may be the answer.
If an oil rig costs GBP 1 billion to build, the data management work during the planning, design, building and operational phases costs the same amount. DNV’s Information Quality Management (IQM) group addresses the processes that accrue these costs.
"Improving the quality by standardising, indexing and managing the data can significantly reduce these costs, not to mention the improvement in the overview picture, management and safety of the rig. DNV is not new to the concept of classifying things, and information can be approached in the same manner,” says Petter Myrvang, who heads the IQM group.
DNV’s IQM group is at present experiencing a steady flow of contracts regarding this work. It has secured initial data management work worth EURO 1,1 million for the Norwegian Defence’s new frigates. Another contract is for a EURO 2,4 million research and development project (R&D) involving Statoil and several other parties.
Frigate data centre at Høvik
The Norwegian Defence are building frigates at Izar, a Spanish yard. The first out of five frigates is now completed and the data will be delivered to DNV's IQM group for preparations and management, according to international data standards and rules. Experts from the Norwegian Defence will then validate the data through a secure link to the frigate data centre at DNV Høvik.
The initial work covers the data centre and receiving and preparing data for the first frigate, and has a duration of one year. The last frigate will be delivered in 2009. The project was secured with good assistance from DNV Consulting.
Integrated Information Platform
The R&D project Integrated Information Platform includes Statoil, OLF (The Norwegian Oil Industry Association) and the Norwegian Research Council, as well as other participants. DNV Research and DNV Technology Services are also involved from DNV.
DNV's IQM group is managing the three-year project and is preparing data management and standards in integrated operations. The new ICT infrastructure in the North Sea allows more offshore facilities to be controlled remotely. This way oil and gas reserves can be explored and analysed, and production can be increased using the best available expertise. However, such integrated operations demand that every asset and tool involved speak the same language.
Setting the standards
DNV has contributed to the development of ISO standards in this field over the past 10-15 years, for example:
- ISO 15926 "Integration of life cycle information for process plants including oil and gas facilities"
- ISO 10303-239 "Products Life Cycle Support (PLCS) for the defence and aerospace industries"