RasGas Subsurface Group: Systems Thinking & Organizational Culture

RasGas and the North Field: Organizational Background

The North Field is the world's largest non-associated gas resource. In 2010, this national asset of the State of Qatar supplied 25–30% of the world's liquefied natural gas, of which RasGas, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, delivered approximately half. From 1999 to the present, RasGas grew from zero standard cubic feet of production per day to 9 billion standard cubic feet per day, along with greater than 300 kbd of natural gas liquids, and built the infrastructure of the world's premier LNG value chain. Proprietary producing wells are at the start of RasGas's recognized world-class LNG value chain. Their performance enables each subsequent link in the chain and sustains billions of dollars of present and future investment.

World-class wells are not the inevitable outcome of a world-class reservoir. Innovation, integration, and execution are central to the way RasGas is organized and managed. Innovation is an important key to success because it not only improves company outcomes but also increases the certainty that RasGas assets are delivering maximum value. Innovating while executing requires a high degree of integration — something that does not come naturally to most joint ventures. The RasGas collaborative internal framework, which includes synergy, systems, and comprehension, is vision-driven and creates the necessary opportunities and structures to continue providing both a world-class product and equally effective customer service. Integral to world-class performance is consistent shareholder support of new ideas and the innovation needed to achieve strategic objectives. In addition to providing secondees, ExxonMobil contributes a powerful technology base and proven worldwide expertise. Additional community partnerships are maintained through colleges and universities.

RasGas operates a systematic framework required to integrate many elements simultaneously: people, systems, tools, and numerous other components integral to the successful continuation of an international business responsible for supplying fuel to the world market. Innovation is an essential quality for the continued success of RasGas in carrying out this important service. Though consistent and reliable frameworks are necessary, innovation is also required to meet the growing and changing demands of the market as well as the inherent variability within a multi-organizational base. Where many other organizations can rely on a status quo, no such comfort is available in the volatile world of natural gas drilling, processing, and distribution. For a venture of this scale — and particularly because it is a joint venture — successful communication, allocation of tasks, leadership, interdepartmental understanding, clear definition of responsibilities, and effective sharing of information between departments are all crucial.

Failure to be comprehensive represents a loss of opportunity. In the well delivery arena, special care has been taken to ensure comprehensive functional coverage. This coverage systematically deploys expertise and innovation across the full continuum of well construction milestones: drill, complete, and produce. For example, even as RasGas reached its development plateau of 9 billion cubic feet per day, the resources devoted to well-related research studies did not diminish. Rather, the focus shifted from developing production to sustaining it.

In the functional area of well reliability and gas deliverability, RasGas created an accountable organization of specialists. One such group is the Subsurface Group (SSG), which manages the reservoir and the well life cycle. It comprises approximately 1,200 people including rig operations, vessels, secondees, contractors, and direct hires. The SSG is staffed with experienced reservoir, petroleum, production, and planning engineers, production petrophysicists, business support and business process professionals, and a younger national workforce. It is divided into several departments with clear roles and responsibilities that mesh together to complement the other departments and groups within RasGas, creating the synergy necessary to deliver the potential of the reservoir and long-term, reliable gas deliverability from its wells.

Problem Statement: Integration Failures in the Subsurface Group

The core problem is poor technical integration among the Subsurface Group's sections with regards to overall goals and objectives. The RasGas Subsurface Group consists of multiple departments, each comprising several sections based on functional discipline. The overarching goal of the SSG is to effectively manage all aspects of gas supply related to drilling, completion, and reservoir management activities so as to be considered the operator of choice by shareholders. This goal can only be achieved if there is clear alignment and collaboration between departments and sections. However, in the period under review, several problems arose resulting in sub-optimal operations, additional cost, and a negative impact on the image of the entire group.

These problems include the following:

Fragmented shareholder communication: Individual sections at times communicated independently with shareholders, often with different messages. During operations, the Petroleum Engineering, Reservoir Engineering, and Well Management departments each communicated results back to shareholders separately rather than sending one unified RasGas response. This confused shareholders and increased the time required to obtain their direction, which in turn led to delays in getting instructions to the rig, adding time and cost to operations.

Backlog of analyses and reports: Analysis and final reports for gathered data were not generated in a timely manner because various sections believed this was someone else's responsibility. This led to a very large backlog of analyses and a loss of confidence by shareholders that RasGas could provide reports on schedule.

Failure to share findings: Findings tended not to be shared between sections, resulting in missed opportunities for enhancement.

Poor interdepartmental working relationships: There was a tendency toward poor working relationships between staff from different sections due to the independent objectives of each section. This led to unhealthy competition and occasional subversion.

Serial rather than collaborative work products: Work products were generally created in a serial fashion, with one section handing off to the next with little or no collaboration. Section members tended to understand only their portion of the work product and had little motivation or interest in understanding the whole.

Unresolved debates before shareholders: Staff members would often debate issues with each other at key shareholder meetings instead of presenting a unified RasGas position. This led to a loss of confidence by shareholders in RasGas's technical capability.

These problems stem from an antiquated top-down management style within the Subsurface Group. A culture developed that did not promote integration, collaboration, or teamwork. Consequently, the SSG has, on occasion, failed to meet shareholder expectations in fulfilling its drilling and reservoir management obligations.

One solution to the lack of integration is the formation of multi-functional teams — Asset Surveillance Teams (ASTs) — whereby representatives from each functional section are brought together. This approach greatly improved collaboration and sharing of information, resulting in improved work products, greater efficiency, and renewed shareholder confidence. However, the formation of ASTs alone was not sufficient to improve integration. A cultural change was also required in the way staff approached their work. Under the AST culture, staff was expected to take less direction from their individual function and instead work with counterparts from other disciplines to proactively solve issues.