NSTA launches digital supply chain tool for North Sea development, decommissioning projects
(WO) – A tool designed to support the supply chain and make North Sea projects more efficient has gone digital in a move that will save companies time and money and make it easier to gain valuable insights from data.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched a digital platform which operators will now use to submit and update Supply Chain Action Plans (SCAPs) containing important information about their contracting activities.
The SCAPs process was rolled out in January 2018 after an NSTA study showed that poor engagement with suppliers was contributing to North Sea projects being delivered late and over budget.
Operators use SCAPs to demonstrate that they are collaborating openly with suppliers early in the project lifecycle, including through the sharing of project information and details of upcoming tenders.
SCAPs also help the NSTA monitor changes in costs, find gaps in supply chain capability, promote best practice and identify lessons learned.
A SCAP is required for all field development and decommissioning projects. More than 200 have been lodged with the NSTA since the process began.
Previously, submitting a SCAP using a paper or electronic form required an employee at an operator to devote an estimated uninterrupted eight hours of work, with further updates required subsequently.
Using the online portal, SCAPs can be completed in smaller, more manageable steps as projects move forward. The NSTA has also slashed duplication by removing the need to include information also found in field development plans or decommissioning programs. As such, the process should now take about four hours in total, potentially saving hundreds of hours of work.
The new, centralized system will also make it quicker and easier for the NSTA to track the status of SCAPs and extract data for analysis using visualization software.
In addition, the tool will help the NSTA monitor progress against the North Sea industry’s pledge to ensure at least half of spending on energy transition and decommissioning projects goes to UK supply chain companies by 2030.
The NSTA has spearheaded numerous data and digital improvements to reduce burden on industry and enhance a range of North Sea activities, including exploration, decommissioning and energy transition projects.
In recent years, the NSTA has revamped Energy Pathfinder, which gives suppliers greater visibility of upcoming North Sea projects, launched a digital system for processing applications to carry out work on pipelines, and made vast amounts of data freely available via the National Data Repository to help with exploration, production and locating carbon storage sites.
Furthermore, the NSTA scrapped the requirement for Cessation of Production reports, generating significant savings in time and money.
