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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Shuts, turns and roundabouts

Brett Kalisch A * and David Pearce A
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A Turner & Townsend, Brisbane, Qld, Australia.

* Correspondence to: brett.kalisch@turntown.com

The APPEA Journal 62 S29-S33 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21198
Accepted: 6 April 2022   Published: 13 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.

Abstract

The outcomes of operational shutdowns and maintenance events, ‘Shuts and Turns’, can significantly affect a company’s performance and reputation. These are typically highly complex operations that demand significant resources and must deliver results. Shuts and Turns are expensive activities, not only in terms of the direct cost of labour plant and materials but also the production deferral. Leading operators recognise that they also pose significant risk to future production which is why significant time and effort goes into robust management framework. Safety performance is paramount, with schedule adherence also key. Operators spend considerable time planning to ensure successful Shuts and Turns have: an established management framework; effective scope management; thorough front-end loading; robust controls and change management; an assessment of the risks of emerging work; efficient resource planning; and rigorous safety and QA/QC processes. This paper provides: an overview of the different types of Shuts and Turns used by Australian operators; the benefits of a robust shutdown governance approach; an overview of key success areas; importance of lessons learned; and a detailed case study based on our work with a major downstream facility. The paper will appeal to oil and gas operators, major contractors and service providers.

Keywords: communications, completions, contracts, cost control, front-end loading, governance, lessons learned, maintenance, operations, planning, procurement, production, quality, risk, safety, work scope.

Brett Kalisch is Head of Natural Resources for Turner & Townsend’s Australia and New Zealand Region and a qualified engineer. Brett’s sector experience spreads across mining, oil and gas, renewables and infrastructure, which covers supporting organisations across the asset lifecycle from development all the way through to operations management. This has included working with organisations to establish effective maintenance governance and delivery systems to maintain the ongoing integrity of assets through effective management and planning processes. Brett understands the criticality of success factors including robust scope and baseline management, having the correct controls in place and effectively capturing performance and lessons learned from maintenance campaigns.

David Pearce is a successful shutdown, projects, engineering, construction and operations professional with broad skills and experience gained from his comprehensive international career within only high-performing organisations. David has professional experience across many aspects of shutdowns, program and project management, engineering, construction and operations coupled with formal education in these areas. A natural leader, David is comfortable dealing with Board Members, Senior Executives, as well as those at the coalface. He has consistently achieved a step change in his roles by creating clarity, building engaged support teams and instilling a desire for continuous improvement and success.


References

McKinsey & Company (2016) The upside of downtime. Article 28 May 2016. Available at https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/the-upside-of-downtime

Sahoo T (2014) ‘Process Plants – Shutdown and Turnaround Management.’ (CRC Press)