Project management services refer to all the activities involved in planning, organizing, and managing human, material and financial resources to bring about successful execution of specific projects which in themselves are temporary endeavors having a defined beginning and an end, undertaken to bring about beneficial change and added value.
The ultimate challenge of project management services is to achieve all the project objectives within the defined performance targets of SCOPE, TIME, BUDGET, QUALITY, BENEFITS and RISKS. Perhaps more ambitious is the target to OPTIMIZE the allocation and integration of resources to meet these objectives. Experienced project management practitioners learn to focus on priorities, track and measure performance, overcome challenges, deal with uncertainties, become flexible enough to adapt to change and subsequently achieve higher performance.
With such tools as the mathematical models of CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM) and PERFORMANCE EVALUATION & REVIEW TECNIQUES (PERT), project management transcends all aspects of Oil and Gas industry activities from tasks as simple as planning the communication and security requirements of a land based team to projects as complex as erecting structures, platforms and systems for producing Oil and gas in very deep waters.
The traditional approach indicates a sequence of steps through which all projects must pass namely PROJECT INITIATION STAGE; PROJECT PLANNING OR DESIGN STAGE; PROJECT EXECUTION OR PRODUCTION STAGE; PROJECT MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEMS and PROJECT COMPLETION STAGE. In reality however, not all projects pass through these phases in that order and some even get terminated before completion. Others go through some of the stages multiple times. In today’s multi-project company environment, many industries now use variations of these project stages.
Released in 1996, PRINCE2 is a structured yet flexible approach to project management, with a common language for all participants in a project. It provides procedures on how to coordinate people and activities within a project and what to do if the project has to be adjusted when it does not develop as planned. Perhaps the most recent development which attests to the critical need for project management expertise is the current oil spill faced by BP in the Gulf of Mexico, which has become a big disaster and a huge slight to the reputation of one of the big players in the global Oil and Gas Industry.
With the need for local value-added, opportunities exist for competent Nigerian organizations to play key roles in developing solutions for managing Oil and gas projects in Nigeria.
Tokunbo Carew
Fossil Services Ltd.