A stage-gate integrated risk control system for LNG plant projects: Focusing on the design phase

Since plant facilities including liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants pose accident risks, most risk studies have been focusing on public security risks and safety requirement. However, design and construction of LNG plants are also vulnerable to considerable schedule delay and cost increase due to its distinct characteristics such as the monopolized FEEDs technology, low-temperature and high-pressure equipment, and a large number of concurrent activities and participants. Hence, it is imperative to develop an efficient risk management tool which could support contractors' risk analysis and control in the design and construction phase. This study proposes a stage-gate integrated risk control framework focusing on the design phase of international LNG plant projects. An improved process to identify and analyze risks using the source-event, risk path, and quantification using probability-impact-significance of coordination concept are incorporated. A total of 83 risk factors of the design phase are identified and their quantification, prioritization, mitigation and monitoring methods are proposed along a state-gate framework. An illustrative case application is conducted to a real LNG plant project and its distinct benefits to manage and control risks of LNG projects are validated. Applicability and usability of the framework is also tested. The proposed framework is expected to function as effective tools for minimizing the risk of LNG projects and maximizing the management capacity of practitioners.