Field Development in Equinor

Since 2009, Equinor (Statoil) has used educational tools and process design delivered by Specifique in their field development courses.

The core of Equinor’s business is the extraction of oil and gas. Most of us probably imagine an oil rig in the North Sea when trying to visualise what this entails. However, in line with technological developments, there are now several ways to retrieve oil, and the variation in how petroleum resources are used has become great. Additionally, other energy assets are starting to establish themselves in Equinor’s project portfolio, especially offshore wind.

There are a variety of factors to consider when developing a project. Choosing the right technology is an important aspect, but also environmental factors, access to qualified personnel, commercial frameworks, risk management – the list goes on. The team responsible for such a large project must have broad expertise and the ability to use it. Therefore, Equinor regularly hosts internal field development courses for their employees.

Because communication, insight and collaboration are essential factors for success, Equinor (previously Statoil) chose in 2009 to cooperate with Specifique to develop a course consent and educational support tools for the Field Development program. For five executive days the participants experience a mixture of educational lectures, committed professional managers, and intense group work. The end result is a proposed solution for how the fictitious resource Ultima Thule should be developed. As a basis for the case work, Specifique and Equinor have developed a fictitious country – Exlandia – where the project is to be realised.

The participants utilise both dialogue mats, large boards, simulation games, internal resources – and naturally course leaders – to develop their proposed solution. In line with the global digitalisation, the majority of these tools have been transferred to function on digital platforms, and since the autumn of 2020 the course is being conducted virtually. Specifique has gained the trust from Equinor to further develop and adapt the learning material and teaching methods for this and other courses.

For more information, contact Petter Engelstad or Vidar Hofmo Bjølgerud.