ISO 15663:2021

Overview

ISO 15663:2021 - Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries - Life cycle costing provides requirements and guidance for applying life cycle costing (LCC) across the asset life of petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas projects. It addresses LCC for facilities and activities across upstream, midstream, downstream and petrochemical business categories and supports decision-making between competing options that differ by cost or economic value. The standard emphasizes planning, identifying cost drivers and establishing a cost‑control framework to optimize total cost over the entire life of an asset.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Life cycle costing management: Establish objectives, roles/responsibilities, training and a life cycle costing management plan that scales with cost magnitude and life cycle phase.
• Methodology and process steps:
  • Step 1 - Scoping: define objectives, scope, measures and competing options.
  • Step 2 - Cost drivers and data collection: identify cost drivers and cost elements; collect consistent input data.
  • Step 3 - Modelling and analysis: build models, assess options, and perform uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
  • Step 4 - Reporting and decision‑making: report results, recommend options, implement decisions and capture lessons learned.
• Cost-control and optimization: systematic identification of cost drivers and mechanisms to control them throughout the asset life.
• Limitations and considerations: HSE, sustainability and climate change considerations are acknowledged; the standard is not intended for decisions driven by non-economic factors.
• Supporting materials: informative annexes on implementation, life cycle phases, LCC techniques, data inputs, examples, and assessment/feedback processes.

Practical applications and users

ISO 15663 is designed for organizations that need robust LCC to inform investment and operational decisions in energy and process industries. Typical users include:

• Operators and asset managers evaluating CAPEX vs OPEX trade-offs
• Project and cost engineers developing whole‑life cost models
• Commercial and procurement teams structuring contractual strategies to allocate lifecycle risks and incentives
• Contractors, EPCs and vendors preparing proposals with transparent lifecycle cost impacts
• Finance, reliability and maintenance specialists aligning cost data with performance and availability targets

Practical uses include option selection during concept and FEED phases, tender evaluation, asset lifecycle planning, and identifying high‑impact cost drivers for cost optimization.

Related standards

Normative references cited in ISO 15663:2021:

• ISO 14224:2016 - reliability and maintenance data collection for equipment
• ISO 19008:2016 - standard cost coding system for oil and gas facilities
• ISO 20815:2018 - production assurance and reliability management

ISO 15663 is an essential reference for organizations seeking consistent, repeatable life cycle costing practices in the petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas sectors.