SemCAMS Improves Midstream Operations with a More Efficient AFE Process
AFE Process Improvement at SemCAMS
SemCAMS Midstream ULC (SemCAMS), a business unit of the US-based SemGroup Corporation, is one of the largest licensed sour gas processors in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, owning and operating four gas processing plants in the area. SemCAMS provides midstream services for their customers, with several options for wet or dry, sweet or sour gas gathering and processing, as well as dehydration, field compression and sulphur forming and handling.
The Challenge
SemCAMS owns and operates four gas processing plant in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. SemCAMS provides midstream services for their customers, with several options for wet or dry, sweet or sour gas gathering and processing, as well as dehydration, field compression and sulphur forming and handling.
SemCAMS managed their AFE process using Excel spreadsheets filled with custom tables and worksheets. This manual process was becoming a hindrance as the organization grew, resulting in too many moving pieces with too many people involved in the handling of AFEs. Tasks were more cumbersome to complete. Finding out where an AFE was in the workflow process required going throughout the building to find out who had the physical copy sitting on their desk.
Beyond the increased difficulties caused by using a manual process to get approvals, keeping the spreadsheets properly formatted and up to date was becoming more difficult as the volume of AFEs increased for SemCAMS. On average, SemCAMS managed 30 AFEs per month. As their needs evolved, it became more difficult to get the spreadsheets to evolve with them. Users were afraid to make updates to the spreadsheet for fear of breaking them altogether. This resulted in lower accuracy and increased chances for errors from the manual process.
“The response to Aucerna Platform at SemCAMS has been very positive. Since implementing it last year, we’ve seen fewer errors caused by manual use and are very happy with its ease of use. The peace of mind I get from being able to trace where an AFE is at is immeasurable”
– Jane Baker, Joint Interest Analyst, SemCAMS ULC
Results
Increased Efficiency
The AFE process is significantly streamlined with the ability to AFEs in an automated, electronic environment.
Increased Tracking
Greater visibility into the status of an AFE, where it’s at in the approval tree, has resulted in a more effective, time-efficient process.
Customized AFE solution
SemCAMS chose Aucerna platform as it was able to mirror their current workflow after a custom implementation. This brought them the automation they required to address their current challenges without having to deal with the pain of changing their workflows to accommodate an automated process.
