Value Creation and Cost Management by Use of the New ISO 15663 Life Cycle Costing Standard

Abstract

The new edition of the ISO 15663 standard has been developed during the recent years and will strengthen the industry cost management for business value creation. This paper shows how such standardization can be used to further enhance and promote adoption of a common and consistent approach to life cycle costing in the offshore oil and gas industry. The new ISO 15663 edition maintains key principles from previous editions, but does also introduce an improved and revised management methodology for application of life cycle costing. The purpose is to provide decision support for selecting between alternative options (e.g., projects, operational and technical subject matters) across life cycle phases, also aligned with overall corporate business objectives such as HSE and sustainability. It also provides the means of identifying cost drivers and a framework for value optimization over the entire life of an asset. The international standard is providing an essential set of normative requirements on how to implement and apply the life cycle costing methodology and the decision criteria, supported by an exhaustive part of recommended practices. This includes the identification of common and specific contractual considerations for operators, contractors and vendors (e.g., complementary metrics besides expenditure, such as systems availability guarantee and risk-sharing clauses). It also includes the application in the life cycle phases of an asset, the techniques and data input, examples of application, and assessment and lessons learnt. Capital expenditure (CAPEX), operating expenditure (OPEX), revenue and lost revenue (LOSTREV) factors are addressed. The standard includes an unambiguous definition of the economic objectives of a project and application of the same business criteria when making major engineering decisions. The life cycle costing methodology is applicable to all asset decisions in any life cycle phase, but should be applied only when expected to add value for decision-support. The required extent of planning and management of the appropriate life cycle costing is depending on the magnitude of the costs involved, the potential value that can be created and the life cycle phase. This paper demonstrates how the new ISO 15663 can be utilized by providing new examples of life cycle costing, to give all participants in the process — oil and gas operators, contractors and vendors — an up-to-date and streamlined set of requirements and guidance, encouraging a fit for purpose application. The paper does also present unique key economic evaluation measures such as life cycle cost (LCC) and net present value (NPV).