Sunday 19 April 2009


Quantified success stories number 4





Here you can find an excellent example of quantified Knowledge management value, related to learning curves. It comes from Shell, drilling for deep gas in Oman, and the Knowledge Management approach was applied as part of what Shell call "Technical Limit".

As the article says, "The Saih Rawl experience illustrates that the time value of knowledge supersedes the time value of money, especially when drilling for deep gas. The primary objective of the team's knowledge management strategy was to drill each hole section correctly the first time. Recycling of knowledge and lessonslearned were de-emphasized in favor of reinforcing practicesworth replicating or best practices, and this expedited decision making. Total Quality Well Delivery(TQWD) was achieved in Saih Rawl field by adequately managing lessons learned from past wells and applying them to subsequent wells"

The end result was the ability to drill wells in 60 days, as against the budget figure of 75 days - a 20% reduction in both time and cost against budget, and 40% against historical performance.

Again I quote "Knowledge management in the Saih Rawl field has had to be dynamic since 2003, because at any point in time there are at least three rigs drilling different hole sections or performing different phases of well construction. The drilling team was given the rare opportunity of simultaneously learning before-doing, learning-while-doing and learning-after-doing. The end result is the progressive downward trend in learning curve time".

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