A critical reciprocating compressor within WestSide’s Moura Central export compression fleet failed catastrophically just 48 hours after a major overhaul due to a connecting rod fracture driven by high-cycle fatigue. After returning the unit to service, it failed again only 12 minutes into commissioning – this time caused by a series of barrier breakdowns. What initially appeared to be an isolated post-overhaul defect instead exposed deeper systemic weaknesses.

In partnership with Verbrec, WestSide undertook two structured, evidence-led Root Cause Analyses. The first identified fatigue initiated by long-term fretting corrosion that had accumulated undetected. The second revealed control, procedural and process vulnerabilities that allowed incompressible fluid into the compressor cylinder due to a series of degraded defensive layers.

At the time, export compression availability was 89% against a 96% business requirement. A year earlier, the organisation had identified a strategic priority: systematically learn from failure rather than respond reactively. These events became the inflection point.

Technical findings were converted into strengthened inspection standards, formalised verification hold points, enhanced condition monitoring and barrier-based risk controls embedded across the fleet. More importantly, operator-led RCA became a core governance discipline.

This presentation demonstrates how disciplined learning from failure accelerated reliability maturity and contributed to measurable availability uplift across a critical compression fleet.

• Context, event timeline and immediate impact
• Root cause analysis (RCA) investigation process
• Failure 1 findings: Metallurgical findings that changed initial assumptions
• Failure 2 findings: Solving the mystery a second time
• Converting RCA outcomes into practical reliability controls
• Embedding governance to prevent repeat failures