Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry

3.1 Introduction
The initial and basic principle of project management is how to read the 
time schedule, which is a real representation of the project performance 
with the expectation of what could occur as a result of implementation.
The first important step is to determine the purpose of the project, 
which must be carefully defined, and then answer the following question: 
what is the project driving force – time or cost?
For over 20 years, schedules have been prepared manually. Now there 
are computer programs that can be used to deliver time schedules.
In general, there is more than one method for drawing up a time 
schedule for the project and this happens according to the nature of the 
project and the required presentation that will be provided to senior 
management.
We must recognize that the preparation of the schedule is the corner-
stone in the management of projects and will follow the work sched-
ule of the allocation of human resources and equipment, as well as the 
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Pitfalls in Time Schedule 
Planning

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Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry
distribution of costs along the project time period with the identification 
of ways to control the costs.
In the 1900’s, during World War I, Henry L. Gantt used the first method 
to prepare a project schedule. This is considered the first scientific method 
for the preparation of schedules.
This method is simple in the representation of activities by rectangles is 
used in project planning and work schedules at the time of production. The 
Gantt Chart was used by putting a plan on a magnetic blackboard using 
rectangles of iron, whose lengths were time units.
This was developed to be the S curve and is considered the first method 
to follow up the project with different activities by distributing the resources 
on the activity which one can use to monitor the performance. 
Until the mid-fifties, there had been no mention of any development 
in project planning. In 1957, there were two different teams working on 
project planning using networks. 
The first team was prepared by way of Program Evaluation and Review 
Technique (PERT). This method depends on the probability theory. 
The second team was using a network and depended on CPM (Critical 
Path Method), and methods of those networks have the same methodol-
ogy but a difference in objectives. The development is done through opera-
tions research.
The first team started using the PERT method when the United States 
Navy was faced with the challenge in the POLARIS system when they 
wanted to make rocket launchers in record time in 1958. 
The basics of the PERT method are to overcome the lack of defining the 
activity duration time exactly and to use statistical methods to calculate it. 
This is done by defining the maximum, minimum, and most likely time for 
each activity in order to finally obtain the likelihood of the completion of 
the project or important parts of the project and the minimum and maxi-
mum probable time to finish the project.
The teamwork on the CPM was introduced in 1957 by two companies: 
Du Pont and Remington Rand Univac.
The objective of the working group is to figure out how to reduce the 
time period for maintenance and overhaul the rotating machines, as well 
as the construction work. 
It is noted that the calculation of the time required for different activities 
can be in CPM more easily than the POLARIS project activities, as we need 
to identify one expected time period only for each activity and the longer 
timetable for the course of the series of activities has been defined as the 
critical path. 

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Pitfalls in Time Schedule Planning 83
Now, the critical path method is the most common way of networking 
activities in project planning. It is used with some other methods by utiliz-
ing computer software.
The process of planning is simply to plan what will be done in the project 
in accordance with the order and manner in the execution of the project. 
There will often be some changes, and you have to adjust the time schedule 
in accordance with the changes in the project.
In order to do the work with good planning, you must answer the fol-
lowing questions clearly:
• What are the activities that you want to execute? 
• When will you execute these activities?
• Who will execute these activities? 
• What are the equipment and tools required? 
• What activities cannot be executed? 
The answers to the previous questions are the key to arranging the 
work in an appropriate way. From that point, the project will be under-
standable. Now, your goal is to transform this information in a simple 
way, present it to all parties of the project, and make sure everything is 
clearly understood. 
Your planning team target is to implement the project in a timely man-
ner in accordance with the specific cost and, at the same time, achieve the 
required level of quality. Therefore, the planning of this project is needed 
for the following:
• To reduce the risks of the project to the lowest level possible
• To achieve the performance specifications of the project
• To establish organization for the implementation of business
• To develop procedures to control the project
• To achieve the best results in the shortest possible time.
The planner cannot plan, in detail, every minute of the project due to 
the non-availability of all information, but, with time and the execution of 
work, some of the details will have to increase the effort and increase the 
time for action to adjust the timetable in accordance with the new informa-
tion and details that he or she will obtain.
If you ask people what makes a project successful, “a realistic schedule” 
usually tops the list. But, ask them to be more specific and several 

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Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry
characteristics of a realistic schedule emerge. A realistic schedule does the 
following:
• Includes a detailed knowledge of the work to be done
• Has task sequences in the correct order
• Accounts for external constraints beyond the control of the 
team
• Can be accomplished on time, given the availability of skilled 
people and enough equipment.
Finally, a realistic schedule takes into consideration all the objectives of 
the project. For example, a schedule may be just right for the project team, 
but if it misses the customer completion date by a mile, then it’s clear the 
whole project will need reassessment. Building a project plan that includes 
all the necessary parts and achieves a realistic balance between cost, sched-
uling, and quality requires a careful, step-by-step process.