A Preventive Maintenance Program Evaluation Approach: A Case Study on Gas Lift Compressors in Oil Extraction

This research investigates the role, impact and effectiveness of the preventive maintenance (PM) program for capital-intensive industries that require large investments in expensive physical assets as oil industry. It adopts a case study design to evaluate PM program requirements setting and implementation on gas lift compressors at X-Oil Company. It proposes that PM is one of the most important activities that maintain the production process continuity in capital-intensive industries such as oil industry. The case study investigation methods utilize maintenance records, annual plans, and employee interviews, to assess the status and effectiveness of the PM program, its implementation, its key performance indicators (KPIs), and outcomes. The findings revealed ineffective current PM program at X-Oil Company with significant adequacy/deficiencies, leading to frequent emergency shutdowns and over-reliance on corrective maintenance. The research analysis concludes that the main causes of inadequacies or deficiencies are related to underestimating the important role of PM, insufficient PM program requirements, and absence of an integrated efficient maintenance computerized management system. The study recommends a set of guidelines and solutions as suggestions to enhance PM practices, by focusing on lifecycle planning, integration of technology, and engineering asset management (EAM) training.