Story highlights:      

• Workers safely restore ~700 MBOED of production after Arctic blast.       
• Commercial Gas & Power team delivers uninterrupted customer service.      
• Innovative solution ensures Bartlesville data center remains operational.       
• ConocoPhillips honors Uri Response Team with 2022 SPIRIT Award.

BY GUS MORGAN

His breath a visible mist, Kevin Barter watched as the thermostat in his home in George West, Texas, continued to drop.

 “I’m pretty sure it was in the 30s in my house. I was sleeping in my overalls,” said Barter, a production lead for ConocoPhillips’ Eagle Ford asset in South Texas, recalling the frigid conditions he faced during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. “My electricity was out for a couple of miserable nights. And it took me like a week to get water to my kitchen so I could wash dishes and clothes. It was a pain.”  

It's been more than a year since the mega storm turned Texas into an icebox, the prolonged cold pushing people and equipment to the limits. While the storm brought hardship, it also revealed the resilient side of humanity.  

At ConocoPhillips, employees rose to the challenge, demonstrating their hardiness and SPIRIT Values. For instance, employees like Barter helped bring the company’s oil and gas operations safely and efficiently back into production, reviving wells and processing facilities shut-in because of Uri.

“But it was no easy task,” Barter said.  

From the fields to the offices, it was an endeavor that required collaboration, leadership and professionalism.  

'Most impressive was the personal commitment'

The support teams for the company’s Permian and Eagle Ford assets — including Integrated Operations Centers, Commercial Gas & Power, Information Technology (IT) and Real Estate & Facilities Services (REFS) — all rallied to the cause, delivering a coordinated response to the unprecedented conditions brought by Uri.  This required the shut‐in and recovery of more than 7,500 wells and 1,500 field facilities. It also called for maintaining office availability and connectivity as well as the prudent management of commercial obligations through a period of market turmoil.

ConocoPhillips recently honored the Winter Storm Uri Response Team with a 2022 SPIRIT of Performance Award for their efforts.

“Most impressive was the personal commitment demonstrated by our workforce in finding ways to continue working through this incredibly challenging period,” said Wendy King, vice president, Gulf Coast business unit.

In the field, this involved operators such as Barter working through harsh winter conditions, often away from families who were without power. And in some cases, it required employees to man unpowered facilities through the night to ensure they were maintained in safe condition and ready for re‐start.

At various office locations, field activity continued to be supported on a 24/7 basis by the company’s Integrated Operations teams who found ways to stay connected, a feat made possible by IT personnel, who ensured core systems and connectivity were maintained at critical locations. This commitment enabled the safe re‐start of ~700 MBOED of production with a mitigated environmental impact, an intact commercial reputation, a rapid re‐opening of impacted offices and zero recordable safety incidents.

“Our personnel responded with resilience to this extreme weather event,” said Permian President Jack Harper. “The teamwork across groups was exceptional."

Eagle Ford - 'Everyone stepped up to the plate'

From Houston, members of the Integrated Operations Center (IOC) supervised the restart, helping coordinate the actions of Barter and other field personnel.  Operations Support Superintendent Eamon Marron, who was overseeing the IOC at the time, said the Eagle Ford has never experienced a prolonged freezing weather event like Uri before.

“What was unique about it was not that it got cold,” he said, “but that it got cold, and it stayed cold for a couple of days, irrespective of whether it was day or night. And that proved to be incredibly challenging.”  

Marron, now strategy & planning supervisor for the company’s Montney asset in Canada, praised the extraordinary personal commitment demonstrated by his colleagues to keep the asset operating safely. 

“We had people working all hours in tough conditions,” he said, “and many were having to deal with the personal impacts of the storm on their families and homes.” 

Their actions, he said, made a major impact on business continuity.

“Everyone stepped up to the plate and delivered way above what we expected of them. They were the reason we managed to recover production so quickly.”  

Permian Basin - 'Personal safety is always our top priority'

Sean Robinson, who served as Delaware Central Production superintendent during Uri, said the majority of the asset was shut-in during the storm.

“We’ve had plenty of cold spells,” said Robinson, “but nothing like Uri.”  

Before the storm rolled in, he said, asset teams switched to proactive mode, winterizing equipment and reviewing safety processes and procedures.

“Personal safety is always our top priority,” he said.

Production Superintendent Bradley Armstrong, who works in the Midland South asset, said restoring production was an “intense” undertaking, an endeavor requiring open communications and teamwork, from top to bottom.

“The restart process was all about keeping people safe first and bringing production back on second,” he said. “It was a weeklong endeavor of daily meetings, making a plan and staying with it.”

Members of the Delaware Operations Center in Loving, N.M., orchestrated the restart, which took about a week. Like its Eagle Ford counterpart, the Delaware Operations Center is responsible for real-time surveillance, alarm management, dispatching, field optimization, data support and third-party crude, gas and water offtake.  

“The people in the field are the champions of the whole thing,” Armstrong said. “They were troopers. They were the ones making things work.”

Commercial Gas & Power - 'Incredible' collaboration

In Houston, the Commercial Gas & Power team ensured these field efforts were not in vain.

In the days before the storm, Commercial proactively deployed their emergency response plan and mobilized a core team of employees at a hotel near the Houston office. The team worked with REFS to allow safe transportation to the office and both groups then reacted to losing power and water at the hotel. REFS created innovative solutions including makeshift sleeping arrangements of yoga mats and towels borrowed from the ConocoPhillips workout facility and last-minute meals. After several water pipes burst at ConocoPhillips Center, REFS closed the complex for safety reasons.

“Even through having to relocate our emergency operations three times in three days, we never lost the ability to perform our day-to-day activities or be in contact with our customers and co-workers,” said Tori Kuykendall, manager, Gas Scheduling & Operations. “ We were using all available resources to make sure we didn’t miss critical deadlines and to maintain our high level of customer service.”

Such work was made possible by IT experts such as Commercial IT Desktop Associate Kunjal Patel who provided onsite hardware support at the start of the storm, helping traders and Power desk employees set up monitors, keyboards, mouse and docking stations.

“I was also in calls,” he said, “supporting people at home who were having connectivity issues.”

Site Support Associate Suzy Runnels adapted to changing conditions by shifting her focus from helping employees onsite to remote duties, assisting employees who were struggling with connectivity issues.

“In terms of remote support,” Runnels said, “the main issue was getting everyone connected. So, we were doing whatever we could to help them stay connected and in touch with their colleagues and clients to maintain business continuity.”  

“From our emergency team to other employees opening their homes to countless hours of work from our contracts and legal groups,” said Tom Mathiasmeier, general manager, Global Gas, Power and LNG, “the collaboration, commitment and employee sacrifice were incredible.”

Main office closures - Houston, Midland, Bartlesville

The storm not only caused the company’s Houston headquarters to close for a week, but its Midland and Bartlesville offices, too. Having all three offices closed simultaneously has never happened before.

In Bartlesville, the extreme cold nearly caused the water in the data center’s cooling towers to freeze, putting the servers in danger of overheating.

Field Facilities Manager John Ford and Bartlesville Facilities Manager Scott Sabine formulated a solution: use recycled generator water to heat the water in the cooling towers. Their plan worked, allowing the data center to remain operational.

“It was a small thing, but it could have been a big thing if the data center went down,” said REFS Manager Kevin Startz.

'We aren't built for this kind of cold down here'

In the aftermath of Uri, Barter was still feeling the effects of the storm at his home by the Nueces River. His family had to make do without a flushable commode or bathtub for a month.

Be it on the home front or at work, the unique challenges of Uri remain top of mind in 2022, the storm a learning event for all involved. In South Texas, especially, operating in prolonged cold is a struggle.

“It makes you appreciate what they do up in Alaska,” said Barter, a Corpus Christi native. “We aren’t built for this kind of cold down here.”

Winter Storm Uri Response Team managed a coordinated response to unprecedented winter weather that forced the shut-in and later recovery of field facilities, while maintaining office operations and managing commercial obligations through a period of market turmoil.

Eamon Marron (team lead), Tori Kuykendall (team lead), Clint Dean, Allen Lee, Thomas Stelzer, Marwa Bhatia, Jim Hemmerly, Sandy Lynn, Rob Rome, Brian McCann-Hermis, Neeran Pathak, Matt Cohen, Scott Edris, Andrew Puls, Nick Short, Jake Woodard, Julie Reames, Todd Braunfeld, Zane Hill, Sarah Petrey, Gavin Howard, Donald Paddack Jr, Paul Aberle, Brian Rowe, Myrna Bowlin, Juan Sanchez, Kevin Barter, Adrian Gonzalez, Juan Garcia, Ryan Tepe, Anthony Medina, Rick Aquino, Jesse Arredondo, Trey Harton, Colby Rowell, Austin Theriot, Jesse Kinslow, Matt Moss, Marcel Madubom, Darron Jackson, Sean Robinson, Chip Roemisch, Ivan Villa, Chris Mize, David Husselman, Chase Ward, Kelly Dugan, Rey Sosa, Brett Bentley, Todd Fox, Kile Wright, Kenny Hudson, Steve Arnold, David May, Matt Honeyman, Stan Hammond, Chris Wood, Wade Claybrook, Bradley Armstrong, Roy Munoz, Chris Pitkin, John DeLaRosa, Daniel Sanchez, Kevin Startz, Kris Sava, Jason Cooper, Jesse Bluejacket, Chris Claypool, Larry Williams, Scott Sabine, Abhay Patel, John Ford, Chris Yetsko, Kunjal Patel, Suzy Runnels, Craig Pell, Edward Saenz, Adam Middleton, Jesus Sarabia, Jorge Ruiz, Brian Meyer and Billy Ivey.