Dr. Allison J. Aschman will become Director for the Asia Pacific Region effective October 1, 2011

Although both contractor- and owner-led turnarounds have similar levels of planning, owner-led turnarounds were found to be 13 percent less expensive for a similar scope of work, according to an IPA study.

An IPA study sees a major increase in megaproject activity in the next few years that could put a strain on engineering and construction resources.

An IPA study finds that over one-third of all site-based projects are failing to meet their authorized objectives for a variety of reasons, including the lack of definition, over-worked project managers, the lack of input from key project stakeholders during definition, and late changes, among others.

While more and more operators are moving to the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), some are finding that there is a steep learning curve for executing projects in the area. Based on a study by IPA that examines deepwater projects in this area, some operators are achieving significant better capital and production performance than others. Early study results indicate that this is primarily because these operators have internalized learnings from their initial deepwater developments to understand the practices necessary to execute successful projects in the deepwater GOM.

IPA has named Patricia Velasquez Griffith as Vice President, New Ventures and Mary Ellen Yarossi as Regional Director, Europe

Many Western companies are beginning to heavily invest in China hoping to take advantage of potential cost savings in the country. However, a study by IPA found that many of these projects are not delivering the savings expected primarily because the companies do not have a full understanding of the practices necessary to deliver projects in China. Further, the study found that the costs to execute projects in China have been steadily rising over the last several years.

Major project failures are nothing new. However, compared with private sector projects, government-funded projects have much worse performance in terms of cost and schedule predictability. If the historical pattern is followed, it could result in the loss of millions in stimulus funds. IPA’s Front-End Loading (FEL) Index can help federal agencies avoid such losses by helping them identify and then select the projects that are truly ready to move forward.

IPA study finds offshore petroleum capital project costs are skyrocketing and owners may be paying more than they should.