Land Operations – Process Review and Improvement Posted on May 19, 2015 | By Ryan Rogers

Overview

Throughout the oil and gas industry, companies are working hard to address knowledge and experience gaps, particularly within technical and operational areas. Land Operations is a key function within upstream operations that is experiencing significant challenges resulting from these same age and experience gaps. As North American shale exploration and extraction continues to grow, the Land Operations function has become an integral part of business development, asset acquisition and asset management. Now more than ever, it is essential for onshore-focused organizations to ensure effective knowledge transfer from retiring and experienced employees to the influx of early career talent.

The table below outlines the challenges, drivers and impacts trending in Land Operations, particularly regarding operational inefficiencies from non-standardized practices and inconsistent processes:

Approach

Enite has developed a proven methodology to address and mitigate the impacts from the knowledge and experience gaps in Land functions through process improvement and optimization. Our structured methodology yields on-time execution with valuable and tangible results through the following four distinct phases:

Current Snapshot

In the first phase, the Enite project team will document all processes and policies through a series of staff interviews to capture the current state. During these interviews, the team will keep track of current risks that have potential project impact to make sure the project stays on time and in scope. With our process improvement expertise, clients can expect thoroughly vetted process flowcharts documenting Land Operations and related function responsibilities, touch points and key tools.

Identify “To Be” State

The next step is to identify “to-be” processes, policies and procedures. The team will work with leadership to capture the ideal future state of the operation. From this point, the project team will identify and document best practices, project risks, observations of improvement opportunities, and analyze issues associated with current processes, organizational structure and technologies.

Gap Analysis

In the final phases, an analysis of the gap between the current state and proposed future state is conducted. During this phase the Enite project team will evaluate, prioritize, and communicate the critical next steps before implementation.

Strategic Roadmap & Implementation

Before implementation begins, the team facilitates leadership alignment on the strategic direction of the project and implementation plan. During implementation, the team will prioritize improvement opportunities and identified options for resolution. Implementation will include development of all identified deliverables, along with a training and change management plan for the organization.

 

Success Factors

Implementing and sustaining operational changes can be challenging for many organizations. Enite is equipped with significant project management experience and tools to ensure successful project implementation. The following is a summary of key success factors resulting from our process review and improvement projects for Land Operations divisions:

Expected Outcome

Deliverables resulting from a process review and improvement project include but are not limited to:

• Detailed process flowcharts documenting key operational activities
• Formal guidelines for key operational processes
• Comprehensive document inventory
• Inventory of current IT tools and systems
• Repository of all observed improvement opportunities with recommendation next steps
• Compilation of detailed interview notes
• Evaluation of organizational structure, roles, and responsibilities
• Internal web-based interactive portal to store all deliverables in a user-friendly interface

Expertise

Enite’s seasoned team is well positioned to provide your organization with the tools and knowledge critical for process review and improvement. Our direct experience with Land Operations and related functions within the upstream oil and gas industry is pivotal to helping our clients adapt to the industry trends. Highlights of our distinctive experience include: