Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) in the Oil and Gas Industry: An Overview of Methods and Techniques

Abstract

On and offshore development projects in the oil and gas industry are predominantly capital-intensive investments, with the potential for serious financial and environmental consequences should a catastrophic failure occur. Therefore, an efficient as well as effective maintenance management approach is essential to the continuation of production in a safe and reliable manner. This paper explores the existing literature on the development and applications of CBM in the oil and gas industry. The recent literature reinforces the fact that the role of CBM is critical to the smooth, uninterrupted, efficient and safe running of oil and gas facilities. The complex and integrated nature of the oil and gas facilities require specific and carefully prepared CBM programs with real-time condition monitoring data recording, analysis, and decision making to facilitate an accurate understanding of the essential maintenance intervals. This in turn can promote optimised utilization of plant equipment with higher levels of certainty and safety.