SPE 93721

Tipping Point Leadership, Discipline Quality Experts and Quality Assurance in ADCO
A. Gyllensten, ADCO

Copyright 2005, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 14th SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and
Conference held in Bahrain International Exhibition Centre, Bahrain, 1215 March 2005.
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Abstract
Tipping-point leadership is a modern management
approach designed to overcome resistance to change and
improve performance. In ADCO the introduction of Discipline
Quality Experts builds on the idea that in any organization
there are people, procedures and systems that has a
disproportionate impact on performance like hitting the
kingpin in bowling brings down all the other pins!
This is particularly important in Petroleum Development,
the core of modern Oil & Gas companies. Although highly
technical such organizations are now often Asset focused
and as a result functional skills may suffer. This causes
dilemmas for a learning organization, which is also trying to
grow significant numbers of young national staff and integrate
them in their midst. In ADCO Discipline Quality Experts in
key disciplines like Geoscience, Petrophysics, Reservoir- and
Petroleum- Engineering are located in a Quality and
Performance Improvement Department (QPID) charged with
conducting gap analyses on a continuous basis to monitor
critical business areas and suggest new opportunities for
change to maximize the value of existing assets. Peer
Reviews, Discipline Forums and Balanced Scorecards are
utilized to monitor individual and team performance contracts
and monthly Project Boards review the business value of
major projects and studies.
The Discipline Quality Experts provide Asset teams with
expert advice and consultation in areas that directly impact
short and long term activities. They conduct quarterly reviews
to ensure that Field Development Plans meet the business
targets and are in line with Shareholders guidelines. They
play a key role in the introduction of minimum standards for
competency assurance and foster a challenging and motivating
learning environment for all staff. They also lead the discipline

coordination meetings to ensure the transfer of "Best

Practices" across Asset teams.
This paper will illustrate the approach taken in applying
these principles to the Petrophysics Discipline in the
Petroleum Development Division (PDD) in ADCO.
Introduction
Tipping Point theory or How little changes can make a
huge difference is about initiating and sustaining change. In
particular, it is a new way of encouraging change to happen as
quickly as possible. It is inspired by understanding why for
example crime dropped so dramatically in New York City in
the mid-1990's. Why a novel written by an unknown author
ended up as an international bestseller. Why word-of-mouth is
so powerful. It has been suggested that the reasons behind
these events are all the same; ideas and behavior and change
occasionally behave just like outbreaks of infectious disease.
Indeed the word Tipping Point comes from the world of
epidemiology. It's the moment in an epidemic when a virus
reaches critical mass or boiling point. Small changes have
little or no effect on a system until a critical mass is reached.
Then a further small change "tips" the system and a large
effect is observed. It's the moment on the graph when the line
starts to shoot straight upwards. AIDS tipped in 1982, when it
went from being a rare disease affecting a few to becoming a
worldwide epidemic. Crime in New York tipped in the mid
1990's, when the murder rate suddenly plummeted. Tipping
point phenomena seem to trigger the social epidemics that
surround us.
Petroleum Development Division (PDD).
PDD is one of the key divisions in ADCO, made up of
mainly professional engineers and graduates in a variety of
disciplines. Following a significant re-organization nearly 10
years ago, PDD changed from being a Discipline Oriented to
becoming an Asset Based Division.
In many ways this increased the efficiency of work,
forcing the different disciplines concerned to break down any
boundaries that may have existed in the past and pool their
skills in fully integrated Asset Teams, focusing manpower
resources on getting the job done. That job includes the
preparation of Exploration and Appraisal strategy, reservoir
characterization, 3D models and Full Field Development Plans
for some of the largest carbonate fields on land in the Middle
East. PDD also supports the drilling and completion of new

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SPE 93721

wells and provides the development planning and reservoir

management necessary to sustain average production of
around 1 million bod.
By itself such a massive top-down restructuring initiative
was not enough to make the intended positive changes take
root. To realign staff incentives, avoid the dilution of
discipline skills and support growing young engineers on-thejob, it was decided to establish a team of Discipline Quality
Experts in key disciplines like Geoscience, Petrophysics,
Reservoir- and Petroleum-Engineering under the umbrella of
the Quality & Performance Improvement Department (QPID)
in PDD. QPID had already established a successful track
record in PDD, accelerating system improvements, technical
processes and inter-personal activities, by focusing on
analyzing and planning critical activities, measuring
performance using the Balanced Scorecard approach and
reducing risks by incorporating them in Project Management
processes.

Role of the Discipline Quality Experts.

The Discipline Quality Experts provide PDD asset teams
with expert advice and consultation in Exploration and
Production related technical studies & activities that directly
impact ADCOs short and long term field development plans.
They participate in the establishment of strategic framework
for Full Field Development Plans & technical review and
conduct quarterly reviews to ensure that Field Development
Plans meet the business targets and are in line with
Shareholders guidelines.
Together with other senior experts, the Discipline Quality
Experts have started to establish Standard Operating Processes
(SOPs) for a number of critical working systems. These SOPs
allow us to institutionalize and therefore share models
for auditable processes like Reservoir Modeling and Field
Development Planning. The SOPs provide clear layouts of
what should be done, in which order and the links to other
processes. Such projects aim to codify process knowledge, to
prevent this experience from leaving the organization. Besides
helping develop such technical working systems & standards,
the Discipline Quality Experts also assure their effective
implementation across the Asset Teams in PDD. They lead the
discipline coordination meetings or Discipline Forums to
ensure the transfer of new learning and Best Practices across
Asset Teams. Once-a-year the Discipline Quality Experts
organize Away-days for their respective discipline
communities. They also play a key role in maintaining and
verifying minimum standards for staff competency and foster
a challenging and motivating learning environment where
engineers can grow and realize their potential. Their job
description is therefore fully in line with ADCOs mission
objectives to promote an environment of continuous
improvement while maintaining the highest standards of
honesty and integrity in all aspects of our business.
Petrophysics.

Petrophysics is the discipline concerned with the

determination of the physical and chemical properties of the
rocks and fluids in the reservoir. It concerns itself with the
measurement of log data from oil (and gas) wells and the
interpretations of that data in models that describe the rocks
and fluids down hole and their interaction. The results are
generally calibrated with direct laboratory measurements on
actual rock (cores) and fluid samples taken from the well.
Petrophysics touches every aspect of the petroleum
business. Petrophysicists are involved in all stages of field
development from exploration to brown-field production
monitoring. In ADCO Petrophysicists work closely with all
the other disciplines of subsurface technology in integrated
Asset Teams that develops and manages oil and gas reservoirs.
Within these multi-disciplinary teams, the Petrophysicists are
responsible for the initial evaluation of new oil or gas wells.
Typical outputs include the storage capacity of the rocks
their porosity and the fluid types and quantities contained in
them.
During the Field Development Planning phase,
Petrophysicists together with other geoscientists develop
detailed reservoir models that characterize the reservoir as 3D
Earth Models. These models are used to simulate different
hydrocarbon recovery mechanisms and establish the optimal
well placement.
After the field has been put on production, the
Petrophysicists will continue to collect and evaluate data over
time to help monitor changes in reservoir fluids and the
movements of fluid contacts, identify water fingering or gas
break-through. Such information contributes to the prediction
of reservoir performance and may lead to defining potential
development opportunities for the remaining hydrocarbons in
order to help maximize recovery.
Petrophysics is a highly technical discipline that requires
both engineering and earth science skills. Our Petrophysicists
come from a variety of backgrounds including: mathematics,
physics, geology and electrical engineering. They also come
from a variety of countries, ranging from the Middle East, the
Far East, South America and Europe.
Given this complex mix of cultures and backgrounds, the
importance of strengthening Petrophysics in ADCO was
recognized some time ago. The first Petrophysics Retreat was
held four years ago and focused on jointly establishing a
Vision, Mission and common Objectives for the
Petrophysicists spread out among the various Asset Teams in
ADCO. Since then another two retreats have been held to
reinforce those learnings, introduce them to newcomers and
emphasize Quality Control and Quality Assurance issues in
Petrophysics workflows. To assure staff competency, personal
development plans are linked to Skill Gap Analyses derived
from regular assessments of engineers capabilities versus skill
level requirements for their respective job group.
Extra-curricular Activities.

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SPE 93721

More recently these efforts spilled over into extra

curricular activities in the form of establishing a Local
Chapter of the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log
Analysts in Abu Dhabi. The Chapter was founded in January
2003 and now has 165 members.

Acknowledgement.
The author would like to recognize the Management of
ADCO and ADNOC for the support to publish this paper.
References.

In addition to holding monthly technical meetings where

resident or visiting Petrophysical experts present the latest new
technology and interpretation techniques, the Chapter
organized the first SPWLA Topical Conference in the Middle
East; in Abu Dhabi in May 2004 on Residual Oil Saturation
(ROS) in Carbonates. It was a very successful event with 93
participants from as far away as Norway and Alaska.
This high activity level has continued and in November
2004, a Field Trip was organized to Al Ain to see late
Cretaceous carbonate reservoir analogues in outcrop,
supported by lecturers from the Geology faculty of the
University of Al Ain. Around 45 people participated.

Value of Quality Management in E&P Business

Improvement and Integration. Badria Al Mulla. Abu Dhabi
Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO). ADIPEC
October 2004. SPE 88663.
Tipping Point Leadership. W. Chan Kim & Renee
Mauborgne. Harvard Business Review. April 2003.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference. Malcolm Gladwell. Little, Brown & Company.
March 2000.

In early February this year a second SPWLA Conference

was held in Abu Dhabi, this time on the challenging Topic of
Low Resistivity Pay in Carbonates, 90 Petrophysicists and
other geoscientists from all over the world participated.
These activities have helped put Petrophysics on the map
in Abu Dhabi and created a new sense of pride and belonging
right across our Petrophysics community. I believe these
successes are examples of a tipping point social epidemic! It
shows how the accumulative effect of introducing a lot of
small changes and doing a significant number of little things
right ended up having a relatively sudden dramatically positive
effect on the system, beyond and above what could have been
reasonably predicted.
As human beings, we generally expect everyday change to
happen slowly and steadily, and for there to be some nearlinear relationship between cause and effect, and when there
isn't -- when crime drops dramatically in New York for no
apparent reason, or when a movie made on a shoestring budget
ends up making hundreds of millions -- we're surprised.
According to the Tipping Point theory, we should not be
surprised, for that is the way social epidemics work! Under
certain circumstances, ideas, behaviour and change can, with
the help of the right kind of people, spread throughout a
society or organization like an epidemic. When that happens, a
critical point, the tipping point, is reached at which the
behavior and features of the system itself suddenly change.
In fact many companies are now actively trying to set off
such tipping point avalanches, to improve their systems and
processes and impact performance! In ADCO these processes
and their dramatic benefit are being increasingly recognized
and it has been my privilege to experience some of their
effects first hand and up close. It will be very exciting to see
what the next step up the ladder will bring.

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