Athens Group and ModuSpec Sponsor Key Survey to Help the Drilling Industry, Reduce NPT on Late Generation Assets

The costs of Non-Productive Time (NPT) and the incident rate on late-generation assets continue to rise. Today Athens Group and ModuSpec announced their co-sponsorship of the industry survey “The State of Non-Productive Time on Highly-Automated Offshore Rigs: Second Annual Benchmarking Study.” Per last year’s survey, lack of the right skill set was the number one organizational barrier to reducing non-productive time challenges. Scarcity of qualified resources will become even more critical in 2010 and 2011 as more newbuilds undergo commissioning than in any previous two year period. So this year’s survey has been expanded to gather more benchmarking data on what drilling contractors and operators are doing to address this challenge.

The 2nd Annual Benchmarking Report will also compare the state of NPT 12 months after the first survey, showing where progress has been made in reducing the key contributors to NPT, revealing where it hasn’t, disclosing which aspects have remained status quo, and identifying what companies are doing, and planning to do, to reduce this drag on profitability. 

Data will be gathered from November 19th through December 21st and the results will be published in February of 2010. All individual responses and identities will be kept in the strictest of confidence; only aggregated responses will be reported. Participation in the survey is free. Everyone who answers the survey will receive an advance copy of the report and will be entered in a random drawing for one of two Amazon Kindles (the newest wireless reading device).

Click here for more information.

Athens Group

The annual cost of NPT on a high-specification offshore rig is U.S. $100- $150M+ and 20 - 30% of NPT is Drilling Control System related. As independent software consultants, Athens Group helps drilling contractors and operators reduce NPT, improve safety and increase operational efficiency by helping to prevent software-related equipment failures. Our Drilling Technology AssuranceSM (DTA) Services were developed specifically for highly-integrated rig and Drilling Control Systems to mitigate risk and remediate problems in all phases of the rig lifecycle. Athens Group has more expertise in this specialized area than any other vendor. Our Proven Practices Methodology; software, hardware, and network topology experience; and vendor drilling equipment experience speed identification of risks and resolution of issues. The cost ratio of our services to NPT savings typically exceeds 1:100. Our customers, industry-leading companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Noble Drilling, Stena, Conoco Phillips, Hess, Hydril, Pride, Maersk, Shell and Transocean are all reference able and over 70% have engaged us on multiple rigs.