Abstract
In 2020, Petrobras established the EF100 Program with a mission to increase operational efficiency while preserving value. As part of this program, BIP Consulting conducted a diagnostic in 2021 using Petrobras’ operational data. The diagnostic revealed that Compression and Gas Treatment systems accounted for approximately 20% of the inefficiencies in the company’s offshore production process at that time. These inefficiencies posed significant challenges to operational efficiency and profitability, highlighting the importance of the EF100 Program’s focus.
This case study presents a novel approach to addressing these inefficiencies, combining the principles of agile methodology with data-driven decision-making techniques in an engineering project, called "Tratamento e Compressão de Gás" (TCG project), and demonstrated the effectiveness of this combination in project management, whilst enabling the project team to quickly assess and respond to changing circumstances, thereby optimizing the outcomes.
A key element of this project’s success was the approach to culture and change management. Guided by the widely recognized principle that ‘Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast’, the project team navigated Petrobras’s strong culture by involving executive, tactical and operational team members in the process, fostering a sense of co-creation and ownership.
As a result, the project achieved a significant reduction in system inefficiencies. Specifically, for the systems within the scope of this project, in the business unit used as a pilot for the project within a period of 16 months, the Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) increased by approximately 25%, and the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) decreased by approximately 11%. These results, combined with the successful cultural navigation and co-creation approach, demonstrate the potential of this methodology for improving operational efficiency in the oil and gas industry.
