Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Allameh Tabataba’i University
Abstract
With the change in policy by the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum in 2017 to outsource the operation and maintenance of oil and gas units to the private sector, the O&M outsourcing contract framework has drawn more attention than ever.
This study first explores the current state of O&M contracts, in conjunction with the laws and regulations, and wraps up that the Ministry of Petroleum has an inherent duty to comprehensively outsourcing these operations to the private sector. The next step points out that the vast majority of Operation contracts, which are always claimed as O&M contracts, are basically manpower contracts.
The next step is to categorise these contracts into two categories: independent and integrated. This study divided independent categories into seven categories: manpower, inspection, packaging, KPI packaging, hybrid, and full coverage. In opposed to the current method of making independent O&M contracts in the oil and gas industry, the results showed that optimal O&M outsourcing takes place through integrated contracts in which the operation is a partial part of that contract.
Furthermore, a review of the framework of integrated upstream contracts, particularly the Iranian Upstream Petroleum Contract (IPC), and some types of integrated downstream contracts, such as the EPC+O&M and the FIDIC DBO model, conclusively demonstrates that "Build Operation and Transfer" and "Rehabilitate, Operate, Transfer" contracts are one of the most effective methods of outsourcing these operations.
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