Did you know that the global oil & gas infrastructure market was valued at roughly US $761 billion in 2024, and is projected to grow to around US $1.46 trillion by 2034?
That staggering figure underscores the critical importance of efficient, reliable, and streamlined construction and infrastructure delivery in the sector. With such huge investments and high stakes, the role of effective project delivery methods, especially design-build construction management, cannot be overstated.
In this blog post, we’ll unpack how design build construction management is helping streamline oil & gas infrastructure projects: from upstream facilities to pipelines, from remote builds to complex modular plants. We’ll examine the major benefits, the key components you should look for, and how this delivery model addresses many of the common business, schedule and cost pressures that the industry faces.
Why streamlining infrastructure matters
The challenges in oil & gas infrastructure are real and many. For example:
- Legacy systems and aging assets require more frequent maintenance, replacement or upgrade.
- Supply-chain disruptions, labor shortages and remote site constraints all add risk and cost.
- Projects often involve many stakeholders (owners, design teams, contractors, regulators), leading to coordination complexity.
Given the enormous market size and ongoing growth (see above), the industry must adopt delivery strategies that improve speed, reduce fragmentation, and enhance accountability. That’s where design-build construction management comes into play.
What is “design-build construction management”?
In contrast with traditional project delivery models (such as design-bid-build), the design build construction management approach consolidates design, procurement, construction, commissioning and often project management under one umbrella team or contract. The owner deals with one entity responsible for multiple phases, rather than coordinating separate contracts for design, then construction, then commissioning.
Key characteristics include:
- Single-point responsibility: the design-build team handles architecture/engineering, procurement and construction.
- Better integration of design and construction: early collaboration between engineers and builders reduces errors, rework and delays.
- Enhanced schedule and cost control: because the same team manages the major phases, decisions and change management tend to be faster and more predictable.
In the context of oil & gas infrastructure, this delivery model offers particular advantages, as we’ll explore below.
How design-build construction management streamlines oil & gas infrastructure
Here are several ways in which adopting design-build construction management supports better outcomes in oil & gas infrastructure projects:
1. Improved coordination and accountability
By combining design, engineering, procurement and construction into a unified delivery team, design build construction management reduces interface risks. For example:
- Fewer hand-offs between design and construction contractors means fewer misunderstandings and delays.
- A unified schedule is easier to monitor and manage.
- One point of accountability means faster resolution of design changes or on-site issues.
As one source notes for oil & gas construction:
“We manage every phase of the project life cycle — from design, procurement, project management, and construction — with one team and one process.” This kind of integration helps ensure the build moves smoothly—even in remote or harsh environments.
2. Faster delivery, with cost savings
Speed matters in oil & gas infrastructure: installation delays can mean lost production, regulatory risk or missed market windows. Design-build construction management helps by:
- Enabling fast-track design and construction (design refinements occur in parallel with procurement and early construction).
- Reducing duplication of efforts and contract overhead.
- Allowing value engineering earlier in the project lifecycle.
For example, the referenced firm claims their design-build solutions deliver “cost-effective construction projects” across upstream and midstream facilities. Streamlined procurement, fewer change orders and clearer roles often translate to cost control.
3. Better risk management, especially in remote or complex environments
Oil & gas infrastructure builds often involve remote sites, extreme conditions, regulatory compliance, and complex systems (e.g., pipelines, compressor stations, saltwater disposal systems). Design-build construction management gives a structured way to manage those risks:
- Since design and build teams are aligned, site-specific constraints (terrain, weather, logistics) are considered early.
- Procurement of long-lead items is integrated with design, reducing schedule surprises.
- The single delivery team is motivated to finish on time and on budget, since they hold more of the responsibility.
The referenced page highlights that their team “can design, engineer, procure, construct, project manage, and commission projects in any location.” That kind of full-scope capability is a hallmark of effective design-build construction management.
4. Enhanced flexibility and adaptability
In dynamic oil & gas projects, changes are inevitable—be it regulatory shifts, logistic constraints, or scope updates. A design-build construction management framework helps by:
- Keeping design-construction teams in close contact, so changes can be handled more smoothly.
- Allowing early integration of operations/maintenance considerations (since the build team is responsible end-to-end).
- Enabling modular construction or prefabrication, especially useful in demanding build contexts.
Because the delivery team is responsible for both design and build phases, they can adjust more rapidly than traditional segmented models.
5. Lifecycle and performance focus
While many infrastructure projects stop at commissioning, oil & gas facilities increasingly require ongoing reliability, maintenance readiness and regulatory compliance. Design-build construction management helps orient the project toward lifecycle performance:
- Early design choices consider maintenance access, durability and operability.
- Construction teams are aware of long-term operational needs, not just install-and-walk-away.
- Greater alignment between construction and operations reduces “startup shocks” and teething issues.
In short: you build for real-world use, not just “finished structure”.
Key elements to look for when implementing design-build construction management
If your organisation is considering adopting this model for oil & gas infrastructure, here are some practical considerations:
- Single point of contract / responsibility: Ensure the delivery model clearly defines one entity accountable for design, build, commissioning.
- Early involvement of constructability and procurement experts: Design decisions should be informed by construction logistics, materials availability and site conditions.
- Integrated schedule and cost baseline: From the outset, align design milestones, procurement deadlines and construction phases to avoid fragmentation.
- Strong risk-management plan: Include remote-site logistics, supply chain, regulatory complexity, change management and maintenance readiness.
- Lifecycle perspective: Evaluate design choices on operational performance, maintenance ease and regulatory compliance, not just upfront cost.
- Flexibility & modularity: Where possible, take advantage of prefabricated modules or standardized systems to reduce schedule and cost variability.
- Communication and governance: With combined teams, governance structures must allow clarity of decision-making, change control and accountability.
Real-world benefits and outcomes
By deploying design build construction management in oil & gas infrastructure contexts, organisations can expect outcomes such as:
- Reduced overall project duration through overlapping phases and fewer hand-offs.
- Lower total cost of ownership because of fewer change orders, improved constructability and stronger coordination.
- Improved schedule adherence and fewer surprises at commissioning.
- A smoother transition to operations with fewer startup issues.
- Better adaptability to remote sites, harsh conditions or complex process builds.
The referenced page illustrates that the firm provides “complete design-build solutions for gas gathering systems, supporting upstream and midstream operations with clarity, control and precision.” That kind of clarity and integration is a direct result of solid design-build construction management.
Design-Build Services Recap
In an era where oil & gas infrastructure investments are enormous and rising rapidly, the need for streamlined, integrated, and efficient construction delivery has never been greater. By embracing design build construction management, project owners and developers in the oil & gas sector can reduce fragmentation, accelerate delivery, mitigate risk, and build for long-term performance.
Whether you’re planning a new upstream facility, compressor station, pipeline network or saltwater disposal system, giving serious consideration to design-build construction management will pay dividends in schedule reliability, cost predictability and operational readiness.
