SPE-KSA-614-MS

Keys to Successful Brownfield Engineering Execution

Author: Atef Mahmoud Moussa, Organization; Rashid Petroleum Company Rashid petroleum Company

Copyright 2018, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Annual Technical Symposium and Exhibition held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, 23–26
April 2018.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Existing fields offer significant potential opportunities for operating beyond to securing plant operability,
liability and asset integrity by applying brownfield engineering concept that will lead to extensions in field
life, through increased brown-field work and asset trades; and finding larger result in increased asset
maintenance and more profitable fields in emerging regions work. The introduction of a brown-Strategy
will explore these areas in greater field allowance and work on securing liabilities.
The efficient management of brownfield engineering change to the existing fields may affect reliability, 
availability,  operability  or  maintainability  and  which  may  impact  upon  the  safety,  health  and 
environmental requirements and also includes changes to safety critical elements. 
 
 
In this paper will go through the main keys to successful executions of brownfield engineering activities 
that  realise  significant  field  life  extension,  including  the  redevelopments  and  process  enhancement 
under control of the MOC (Management of Change) procedure and complementing a stage gate process, 
the  work  flow  process  are  divided  into  different  phases  or  stages,  with  a  pause  for  assessment  and 
decision making about whether to proceed. In most cases, time taken to complete surveys in order to 
understand the full scope prior to sanction and managing of interfaces.  
 
What’s Brownfield?
In order to understand the brownfield we have to highlight the meaning of greenfield plant is defined as
green land that never be used however the brownfield is defined as land that was occupied by a structure
and required to be develop, demolish or restructure renovating a prior structure.
 
Brownfield Objective Statement
The objective of the Brown Field Engineering is to provide engineering and fabrication/construction
support to meet the needs of its Operations Group whose objective is to maximize production, maintain,
improve the technical integrity of the processing facilities and deliver a solution with proven capability
and reliability for securing the continuity of production, while taking into account Quality and HSE
considerations.
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Introduction
The  efficient  management  of  brownfield  engineering  change  to  plant  and/or  equipment  which  may 
affect reliability, availability, operability or maintainability and which may impact upon the safety, health 
and environmental requirements. 
 
Typical engineering changes could be the result of the following: 
 
 Company directed changes to previously approved documents such as P&ID’s IO’s list.
 A value-adding change (e.g., an environmental remediation project is able to reduce costs by taking
advantage of technology that was not available when the scope was originally defined)
 A change to plant components, which can affect the control or integrity of the plant.
 Life cycle benefits.
 Improved maintainability.
 Improved profitability.
 An external event (e.g., a change in a government regulation)
 Additional work resulting from force majeure.
 Corrective actions.
 Performance improvement measures (e.g. De-bottlenecking)
 Change / existence of contaminants in process streams, which represents a change outside the
design parameters
 Temporary work that changes the configuration or the control of the facilities (e.g. performing
tests, temporary repairs, etc.)
 Obsolescence of plant and systems.

The effective management of the interface between brownfield engineering team and operation team is a
critical success factor and for this reason the interface meetings between both teams are mandatory to
follow up the progress in each Work Pack activities (engineering, procurement, construction, etc.)

Brownfield Engineering Mission

To support Operations in order to maximise Production, Maintain & Technical Integrity, through the
definition and implementation of brownfield work packs and providing best practice technical knowledge
for required oil/gas plant below activities:

 Plant Expansion,  
Oil/Gas plant expansion to increase the production facilities and throughput plant capacity.
 Management of Change,  
The MOC has a customized workflow program to address specific plant change in official form.
 Debottlenecking & Optimization,  
To increase production capacities of large facilities, through modification of existing equipment
and removing any throughput restrictions.

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Execution Strategy
The execution strategy is determined case by case for each work pack, however - in general - the following
activities are proceeded:

1. Handover of required Engineering Modification documents from Operations in official

form (EIR)
2. Maximize In-house engineering review for feasibility and cost estimation
3. In some Work Packs specialized technical and/or feasibility studies may be required. In
such case, external engineering support is utilized.
4. Upon approval, detailed design engineering & construction is carried out by one of the
available engineering providers, following the Company Contracting Strategy.
5. Maximize the usage of Company left over material from previous projects Procurement
activities are carried out by Company Contracts & Procurement Departments. Support
from Engineering Contractors is usually required during technical evaluation and
documentation review.
6. Provide assistance to Operations during commissioning and start-up.
7. Handover a full close-out pack including the as-built documentation final vendor
documentation for new equipment.

All engineering and construction works shall result in safe, operable maintainable and cost effective
solutions with due regard to environmental issues, taking into account the following:

 High reliability and availability

 Standardization of equipment 
 Maintenance isolation 
 Consistent  operating,  maintenance,  control  and  safeguarding  philosophies,  unless  specifically 
stated otherwise in  the work order(s) 
 Minimize shutdown of facilities 
 Cost effective solutions 

Brownfield Engineering Stages

The brownfield engineering consists of different activities as a stages to move on next stage it should be
complete the previous stage as work consequence; this stages as follow:

 Stage 1; Initiation, Review and Approval  
 STAGE 2; Work Planning & Definition 
 STAGE 3; Detailed Engineering Development 
 STAGE 4; Work Execution & Handover 
 Stage 5; Close Out  

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Technically Authority (TA)

All key decisions that assure technical integrity of materials, engineering and technical processes are 
made  by  technically  authorized  persons  to  who  are  suitably  qualified,  trained  and  competent 
engineering and trade personnel that can demonstrated technical competence.  
 
Technically Authorized Persons can be Company employees or agreed members of Contractor or other 
third party organizations.  

Brownfield Team Responsibilities:

SERVICE
SERVICES
PROVIDER
 Project Management
 Technical Studies
 Front End Engineering Design Detailed Engineering
Engineering  Procurement & Expediting
 Cost Estimating
 Commissioning Support
 Close Out & As Built Dossier
 Construction Planning
 Quality/ Inspection & Test Planning
 Construction Supervision
Construction
 Fabrication, Erection and QC/Testing
 Mechanical Completion Certification
 Hand over to commissioning
 Independent Competent person
 Validation of QC/Inspection & Test Plans
Quality Assurance
 Inspection Work Sheets
 Verification of On-site Inspection & Testing Records

Stage 1: Initiation, Review and Approval

Engineering Investigation Request (EIR)

The brownfield Engineering Change Management process is always initiated by an EIR that raised mainly 
by production & maintenance team. An EIR can be raised by any Company employee but it must be 
endorsed by Management such as Technical Support Manager or according to Company organization 
hierarchy. The normal deliverables of an EIR are as follows:  
 
 Background and description of the problem 
 Proposed modification and scope of work 
 Anticipated benefits and value for production/maintenance 
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 Prioritization of the system shall be modified  
 
Prioritization ranking is a guide and score from below points of view: 
 Health, Safety and Environmental Benefits 
 Probability of Project Success 
 Facilities or Infrastructure Improvement 
 Impact on OPEX (i.e. reduction) 
 Impact on Production (i.e. increase) 
 
 
EIR Originator responsibilities

The EIR originator shall ensure that: 
 
 Complete EIR pro‐forma and gain operations signatures as per company procedure. 
 Ensure all available documents have been sourced by the EIR originator. 
 Ensure funds for change are available and allocated to the project. 
 Setup handover meeting from with Brownfield Engineering team 
 
Handover meeting

The handover meeting is the first opportunity to establish the EIR transfer process to be a work pack 
according to hand over criteria as part of the company change management procedure, view the work 
location  and  determine  any  key  issues  requiring  action.  As  a  minimum  requirement  the  meeting 
attendees should consider all the deliverables for the Engineering Change Proposal defined in the next 
section. 
 
Preparation of Requirements Engineering Report

The Brownfield Engineering Manager will assign a Job Responsible Engineer (JRE) to manage the work 
pack process and prepare an engineering report as part of the EIR process. The outcome of the handover 
meeting will be developed and endorsed in this report from both technically and commercially point of 
view. The Engineering Report will include the following as a minimum:  
 
 Proposal description  
 Technical assessment 
 Impact on Safety Critical Equipment  
 Benefits of proposal  
 Key risks (including HSE and commercial)  
 Justification against asset business objectives  
 Estimated costs  
 Long lead items if required 
 Time criticality   
 Schedule projections  
 Constructability issues  
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 Life cycle implications  
 Reference documentation 

In order to have a proficient engineering report and as a significance of brownfield team responsibilities 
to have successful brownfield integration work helps to drive cost and schedule certainty and potential 
brownfield integration with the existing plant assets. The Key planning steps include: 

 Ensure of existing facilities major documentations on as-builds

 Confirm existing physical assets compared to as-built drawings and specifications, and correct
deficiencies
 Plan constructability reviews to ensure engineering and design maximizes efficiencies and safety
throughout execution and start-up
 Determining space available and foot print availability on existing facilities
 Disruption to ongoing production for brownfield work usually cannot be avoided, therefore it is a
critical responsibility of the brownfield engineering team to identify and minimize full or partial
production shutdowns.
 Develop safety plans that focus on the co-existence of brownfield “hot” work with ongoing
production, and mitigate for the safety challenges unique to brownfield projects compared to
Greenfield builds.

Risk analysis and Register

Each  Engineering  Change  Work  Pack  will  be  assessed  for  risk  in  accordance  with  the  Company  Risk 
Assessment procedure. The Risks will be evaluated and entered into the Brownfield Modifications Risk 
Register, which will interface with the Operations Risk register.  
 
Risk can be defined as either:  
 
 The threat that an event or action will adversely affect the COMPANY, and prevent it from 
achieving its objectives,  or  
 A missed opportunity for improvement.  
 The consequences can affect one or more of the following:  
 Asset integrity  
 Cost (CAPEX and OPEX)  
 Schedule  
 Quality, including plant capacity, flexibility, availability, etc.  
 Health, safety, security and environment  
 Company image and reputation  
 Licence to operate  
 Financial management  
 Third party relations.  
 
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Where appropriate the Engineering, Construction, Quality Assurance Service Provider and key vendors 
should contribute to the risk analysis exercise and the COMPANY should facilitate this.  

Stage 2 – Engineering & Problem Definition and Solution

Brownfield Engineering studies

After engineering report approved and as part of brownfield engineering work flow; the JRE will prepare 
an engineering scope of work to the Engineering Service Provider with available sufficient information 
(documents, drawings, specs. Etc.) including number of options to be evaluated to perform a study to 
help define the problem and propose potential solutions. 
 
The Engineering Service provider start issue the study report based on the contents of the engineering 
report  and  the  scope  of  work  that  approved  by  the  Brownfield  Manager.  As  a  minimum  the  study 
deliverables will include:  
 
 Executive Summary with recommendations  
 Problem Definition and rationale for change – safety, production, maintenance saving etc. 
 Options Evaluated  
 Proposal details  
 Budget estimate (+/‐ 25%)  
 High Level Plan  
 
It  may  be  necessary  to  approach  vendors  or  the  engineering  service  provider  to  help  develop  cost 
estimates to complete the work scope.  

Approval of Brownfield Engineering Study

Once Engineering Study report is completed through review and approval process, checked and finally 
approved  by  the  Brownfield  Manager,  The  engineering  service  provider  will  issue  the  related 
deliverables such as drawings. 
 

Engineering Change Register

As  soon  as  the  Engineering  Change  handover  work  pack  has  been  reviewed  and  accepted  by  the 
Brownfield Manager; the new work pack will be added and processed on the Engendering Change Work 
Pack tracking (ECWP) register. The master ECWP is managed by the Brownfield Manager. 

Stage 3-Detailed Engineering Development

Detailed Engineering

On approval of the Brownfield Engineering Study report the Service Provider will undertake the design 
and engineering activities, which will have the following deliverables:  
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 Executive summary  
 Basis of design  
 Formal safety assessments (SRO, HAZOP, HAZID, etc.)  
 Scope of work  
 Material specifications  
 P&ID’s and IFC drawings  
 Method statements  
 Calculations  
 Procedures list  
 
Service Provider will be fully compliant with the Procedures Document relating to this document and 
any particular requirements of a specific work pack.  
 
Procurement

In normal practice the Service Provider will undertake all procurement activities including surveillance 
However, it’s preferable in case the Company has enough resource to carry our procurement process to 
minimize  the  cost  of  procurement  activities  manpower  and  at  this  case  the  role  of  engineering  & 
procurement contractor is only issuance of MTO or Material Requests. 
It may be necessary to issue Requests for Quotation and Invitations to tender to obtain technical and 
financial information during the design phase. Additionally, the Company may wish the Service Provider 
to expedite long lead items provided funds are approved.  
 
Service Provider will be fully compliant with the Procedures Document relating to this document and 
any particular requirements of a specific work pack.  
 
 
Stage 4 Work Execution & Handover 

Fabrication and construction

JRE will be responsible to prepare construction scope of work according to engineering study report
deliverables and recommendations, this report shall be reviewed and approved by Brownfield Manager
and issue in official request from by brownfield Services Manager to the Constriction Service provider in
order to submit the quotation to execute the work including the Method statement of construction
activities.

The  Method  Statements  must  contain  sufficient  information,  including  identification  of  all  tools,  and 
required COSHH assessments, equipment and chemicals to be used, to enable the Issuing Authority to 
conduct a formal risk assessment and identify all precautions required to complete the work safely. This 
will include safety integrity implications and assessment of the proposed changes.  
All on-site construction and installation activities will be conducted in accordance with the Construction
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Service Providers Procedures List, the Company Permit to Work System and other Corporate/HSE
documents shall be followed and applied.

 
The  Service  Provider  will  be  responsible  for  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  overall  installation 
program.  However,  in  some  work  he  may  delegate  specific  activities  to  other  contractor  under  his 
supervision and responsibility.  
 
Work conducted at contractor’s premises will be controlled in accordance with the requirements of the 
Engineering Change work Pack and the agreed Service Provider’s procedures list.  
 
Mechanical Completion including Inspection and Testing (MC)

The  Mechanical  Completion  requirements  are  part  of  an  overall  strategy  towards  ECWP  completion 
consisting of a logical, sequential process of inspections and tests that the Contractor performs, which is 
the pre‐requisite to the start of commissioning.  
 
The Company MC system is based on approved procedures, which requires the Construction Contractor 
to undertake inspections and testing using approved MC test sheets. Each ECWP will define the MC test 
sheets applicable to the work.  
 
The completed and signed off MC test sheets will be an integral part of the completed ECWP.  
 
Completion and Handover

When the modification installation and testing has been completed, Operation Manager will appoint a 
Punch out Team to visit the modification with the JRE and the Service Provider to inspect the ECWP.  The 
team will generate a punch‐list for any items for which additional work is required if any.  These items 
will be categorized ‘A’ or ‘B’ depending on the following:  
 
 A. An item that prevents the equipment being powered up and operated in a safe fashion.   
 B. A minor item that does not affect the safe power up / commissioning or operation.  
 
The JRE will take appropriate action to complete ‘A’ items with the minimum delay.  Upon completion 
of all ‘A’ items, the JRE will sign the appropriate lines on the punch‐list and shall present evidence that 
‘B’ items will also be completed (Work Orders, Purchase Requisitions, Site Instructions, etc.) and issue 
the punch list to the Production coordinator for approval and acceptance for handover to Operations.  
 
On completion of all close out activities the final sign off of the control sheet will be made, which will 
confirm that all ECWP requirements have been performed satisfactorily and the ECWP will be stored as 
the final dossier.  
 

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Commissioning

The  appropriate  commissioning  procedures  are  approved,  reviewed,  correctly  resourced  and  agreed 
with the Production Team and the JRE will have full access to the Company Project Procedures relating 
to Commissioning to assist in this task.  

Stage 5 Close Out

Operations and Maintenance procedures and documents

The  JRE  shall  provide  all  necessary  information  to  the  Operation  Team  to  enable  Operating  and 
Maintenance Philosophies and Documents to be updated if required.  This will include:  
 Safety case  
 Written scheme of instructions  
 Performance standards  
 Maintenance routines  
 Safety Critical Elements  
 Operations Procedures  
 
The Operations Manager will ensure that the new or revised document changes are communicated so 
that the production personnel are aware of changes to the operation of the plant because of hand‐over 
of a modification.  
 
 
Document revisions and issue (red line mark ups and As-Built)

The  JRE  will  ensure  that  the  executing  contractor  completes  two  sets  of  "red‐lined"  drawings,  which 
accurately detail the "As‐Built" condition of the WORK on completion of the work and the close out of 
all punch list items.  
 
On completion of the ECWP the Engineering Service Provider will collate all relevant final "red line" "As‐
Built" data and prepare the final "As‐Built" drawings.  
 
Lessons learnt

It is mandatory as part of close out process to manage knowledge and to learn as part of a continuous 
improvement strategy based on communication and knowledge flows within and into the organisation 
by documented all lesson learnt for this ECWP.  
 
All lessons learnt will be entered into the Engineering Change Lessons Learnt records document. Lessons 
Learnt reviewed as part of the Risk Management analysis exercises.  
 
 
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Close Out Document

The ECWP will be completed with final documents and will become the Close Out Document. The ICP 
will review this document and issue a formal Verification Report or Certificate, which will finalize close 
out and be compliant with Company’s requirements and procedures.  

Interface management

Each work pack will contain an Interface Structure chart that identifies all the main interfaces.  
 
The number of main interfaces will depend on work pack type, size and complexity and the contracting 
strategy.  For  example,  if  the  fabrication  and  installation  work  is  awarded  to  a  single  contractor  then 
separate data sheets may be necessary for yard work and site work. Typical main interfaces would be 
the following:  
 
 Internal interfaces between the COMPANY and the Service Provider  
 Interfaces within the Service Provider  
 Interface with Operating department  
 Interface with Construction contractors  
 Interface with Third Party Surveillance Contractor  
 Interface with Independent Verification Authority  
 Interface with Shipping, Freight, Customs Clearance and Transport Companies  

Audits

The Company shall assess by formal and systematic examination of objective evidence the degree of 
adherence  to  and  effectiveness  of  the  Service  Provider  and  their  sub‐vendors  Quality  Systems  and 
Procedures, by subjecting key aspects of the WORK, based on criticality, to audit.  
 
An audit program shall be developed jointly by the Service Provider and the Company and implemented 
by  the  ICP  quality  group.  Audits  shall  be  performed  in  accordance  with  pre‐established  written 
procedures and checklists, and be conducted by trained personnel not having direct responsibilities in 
the areas being audited.  
 
Audits shall be scheduled regularly on the basis of the status and safety importance of activities being 
performed,  and  shall  be  initiated  early  enough  to  assure  compliance  with  approved  quality  plans, 
systems  and  procedures  during  design,  procurement,  construction  and  installation  activities.  In 
particular, the audits will address:  
 
 Engineering compliance  
 Welder qualifications and procedures  
 Procurement  
 Test and inspection  
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 Mechanical Completion Certificates 
 
 
Conclusion 
   
Brownfield Engineering Group is an important concern of Company organization for oil/Gas and
petrochemicals plants in order to manage plant redevelopment, expansion or modifications as benefit of
integrating of process facilities and to take the decisions on whether or not to proceed with a work pack
modification which may be based on perceptions of risk assessment that has to be performed based on
financial and production planning issues and environmental aspects.

The stages was mentioned above can be apply in any development situation to brownfield sites. As result
of the risk assessment process determine the viability of development or plant modifications which may
be positive or negative for production and maintenance of brownfield work back execution. In addition,
there are other factors which will relate to the specific site consideration such as plant partial or total
shutdown.

The beneficial aspects is to maximize company resources and in-house engineering work in addition to
the usage of the left over material from previous projects.
About Author:
Atef Moussa is a Senior Manager with long International experience and has over 20 Years’
experience in oil & gas engineering, construction, procurement, commissioning & start up
Offshore, Deepwater & Onshore facilities. He extensive experience in both Greenfield &
Brownfield projects development and execution and he has also extensive experience of the
project management that including planes, procedures, project stages and resolution of
engineering and construction claims involving disputes of change orders and contact
management negotiations, schedule delays claims and engineering change claims. Atef
based in Cairo to manage engineering & projects group for West Nile Delta Brownfield
development in addition he has 9 published papers in the international conference for oil &
gas business.

Non-Business Use
SPE-KSA-416 -MS 13

Attachment (1) Brownfield Engineering work Flow

Non-Business Use
SPE-KSA-416-MS 14

Non-Business Use
SPE-KSA-416 -MS 15

Non-Business Use
SPE-KSA-416-MS 16

Non-Business Use