Evaluation of desviations in exploratory perforation projects at PDVSA Exploration, Western Division

exploratory perforation projects constitute a critical task in the process of incorporating new reserves to further pdvsa and the country economies. this paper identifies and analyzes the causes of deviations in the performance of exploratory perforation projects executed by the western division of pdvsa exploration unit comparing planed vs. actual execution time. seven (7) projects from years 2000 to 2005 were analyzed, finding that the well perforation of is the most critical phase. deviations in the execution times were quantified and ranked according to impact and frequency. it was found that the causes with the largest impacts are attributable to internal factors that can be controlled by the corporation. they are: a) deficient equipment logistics b) delays in contractor selection c) delays in contracting process of d) deficiencies in drill bit scheduling. the most frequent causes for delays were: a) deficiencies in drill bit scheduling b) contractor deficiencies c) (unexpected) geological structures d) weather. since the largest delays are the result of internal causes, a control system for the timely detection and quantification of delays in exploratory perforation projects will improve the performance of these projects.