Proposed risk management decision support methodology for oil and gas construction projects

Oil and gas construction projects are complex and risky due to their dynamic nature and environment, as they involve a considerable number of stakeholders. The contracting companies in Iraq find many challenges when managing the risky events in an environment that categorized with poor supplies, security threats, unskilled workforce and logistics difficulties. Evidence in the literature indicates that there is a lack of unified methodology for project management and especially for risk management in Iraq. Also, the rise in the global energy demand increases the need for a workable, effective and efficient risk management methodology for such projects. Thus, the purpose of this research is to develop an integrated decision support methodology for managing the risk factors in oil and gas construction projects in Iraq. The proposed methodology has been developed to support the local and international contracting companies working in Iraqi oil and gas fields when making decisions regarding the risk factors during the project life cycle. The proposed methodology consists of the following phases: risk planning, risk identification using documentation review and expert interviews, risk analysis using a multi-criteria risk analysis model based on fuzzy set theory, risk effect prediction on project time and cost using artificial neural network (ANN), selection of risk response actions using Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) optimization technique and finally, designing an integrated web-based risk management decision support platform. The adopted methodology will enable decision makers to assess the oil and gas projects risky events, support their decision during planning and work implementation stages, gain experience in risk management through exercising and implementing risk management on scientific and documented bases; organize and document the knowledge-based information for decision makers.