Project risk: A key consideration for upstream energy project management

Project management must involve detailed evaluation, assessment and mitigation of a wide range of risks in order to make the right decisions at the appropriate times. By managing risk, a company can greatly reduce project costs, improve the project schedule and ultimately increase stakeholder returns without stumbling over unexpected events. A definitive process is required in order to systematically and appropriately identify, assess, control and reduce risk (and/or exploit uncertainty and opportunity in some cases) during all phases of a project. There are three main areas of project risk: Pre-FEED or conceptual risks Technical (engineering and design) risks Execution (construction, installation, start-up and commissioning, operations) risks. If project risks, particularly project execution risks, are not managed through comprehensive assessment and measured responses, the consequences frequently come back to haunt all of the project stakeholders, and can lead to human and financial catastrophes.