Deepwater Oilfield Development Organization Structure

[bapi]

Will anybody let me know a typical Deepwater Organizational Structure adopted by any of the famous MNCs (Like Shell Conoco etc. Does all the divisions - like Drilling, Reservoir, Engineering & Construction, Production etc) work as a single unit in the Deepwater team?

 

[zqew05]

They operate as different business units, even though the person in charge for say North America gives them direction. The person in charge of Deepwater is usually the who gives marching orders to the various Deepwater Business Unit Leaders

 

[OlumideAdeoye]

Are you referring to top business unit organization i.e. how the deepwater unit integrates into the overall company structure or deepwater organization as a local business unit?

 

[gijon]

Bapi,
There are yes's and no's to your questions. Moreover some companies starting with a yes are now changing to a no. High level organizations are something that you do not copy and paste but define according to you company goals, policies and structure.
Nevertheless a can give you a hint on it. If you start for the first time in this business, try a unified core team as a deepwater technology group and fill it with the skills and competencies needed for your short-medium term objectives. Do not make it too much multidisciplinary, so to focus it on what really matters. Work very close (project teams) with the G&G people and then grow from it according to work load and demand. But keep the core centralized until you matured as to concentrate all knowledge and experience. This way you can distribute it to the different locations without dispersing management efforts.
This is how most of the majors started sometime ago. All of us evolved in different manners depending on how this knowledge has been distributed or delegated along the maturing line.
I wish you the best of lucks finding the organization that better suits you. It is not a simple task.

 

[zqew05]

Bapi,

Reading about the Deepwater and hiring core people is not enough. You also need to visit established facilities and ask question on how they run things. It will give you an idea of what you need to do. Sitting in a conference room listening to a bunch of experts might give you a clinical and one-sided aspect of what Deepwater really is. Deepwater is a completely different animal. There are so many regulations to meet and maintain, for example.