Agile framework for capital projects
Polly Mahapatra A C and Paris Shahriari BA Chevron Australia, 250 St. George’s Terrace, Perth 6000, Australia.
B Deloitte Australia, Tower 2 Brookfield Place, 123 St. Georges Terrace, Perth 6000, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: pmahapatra@chevron.com
The APPEA Journal 61(2) 422-424 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20077
Accepted: 16 March 2021 Published: 2 July 2021
Abstract
Under the increased pressure of rapidly changing market conditions and disrupting technologies, continuous improvements in efficiency become indispensable for all oil and gas operators. Traditional project management principles in the oil and gas industry employ rigid methods of planning and execution that can sometimes hinder adaptability and a quick response to change. Considering the potential that Agile principles can offer as a solution, the challenge, therefore, is to identify the ideal, hybrid, approach that leverages Agile while incorporating the traditional linear workflow necessitated by the oil and gas industry. This paper seeks to assess pre-existing literature in the application of the Agile principles in the oil and gas industry with a focus on Major Capital Projects (MCPs), backed by the successes experienced as a result of specific pilot projects completed at Chevron’s Australian Business Unit. In particular, this paper will focus on how agility has resulted in improvements to the cost, schedule, teaming and cohesion of MCPs in the early phases as well as key learnings form the pilot agility projects.
Keywords: Agile, decision-making, capital projects, oil and gas, industrial applications, cost savings, competitiveness, Scaled Agile, transformation, digital, cross-functional.
Polly Mahapatra is currently a Systems Completion Engineer on the Gorgon Stage 2 project at Chevron. Recently nominated as a finalist for the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy ‘Outstanding Young Woman of the Year’ 2020 award, and WA Business News’ 40under40 Award, her true passion lies in innovation in the oil and gas industry. She has previously worked on various Major Capital Projects for Chevron, including Gorgon and Wheatstone. She has held various roles including Field Vessel Engineer, Construction Engineer and Turnaround Support Engineer and has worked offshore, on Barrow Island and in Onslow. She is passionate about improving efficiencies and the application of novel project management ideologies in the world of capital projects. Her expertise and experience are in the topics of strategic innovation and how to intertwine digital tools and new ways of working to optimise the delivery of industrial scale, multibillion capital projects. |
Paris Shahriari is a senior consultant within Deloitte’s Transformation and Operations consulting practice. With a background in Business Information Systems and Finance, she is passionate about how the disrupting technologies impact an organisation’s operations; combining business acumen with technology competencies, she strives to create value through problem solving with a focus on gaining sustainable competitive advantage and efficiency. With a strong problem solving and analytical skillset, her experience has primarily been focused on enterprise agility and Agile project management in IT and non-IT context. She has an in-depth experience in providing Agile coaching services to the leadership and their teams across different functions within global organisations. She has been involved in the design and implementation of the Scaled Agile framework and operating models and has facilitated a myriad of Agile and Scaled Agile trainings and she is a proficient user of Agile tools (i.e. Azure DevOps) and their configuration for a ‘team’ or ‘teams of teams’. |
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