Introduction to automated health and safety risk identification and classification

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 484
Author(s):  
Joris Steeman

During the past decade, the major oil and gas players in Australia have put in significant effort to improve their performance on health and safety. With a strong focus on safety awareness of the workforce, the Australian oil and gas industry has been able to improve their health and safety performance, with leading indicators dropping significantly. From an international perspective, however, the total recordable injury rate in Australia is still more than two and half times higher than the total recordable injury rate among member of the International Oil and Gas Producers Association. This extended abstract introduces a new method to identifying and classifying risk and risk levels within oil and gas exploration and production operations based on the results from a trial project at an Australian LNG producer. This risk identification should be done in addition to the existing health and safety approaches. Nowadays, the workers in oil and gas operations use computer systems for managing their work, from isolations and permits to job hazard analyses. The equipment used in oil and gas exploration and production is producing large volumes of data. And external sources of information, such as the BoM, provide context on the conditions in which work is performed. Bringing these sources of data together and using automated statistical tools to identify and classify risk created a new perspective on the risk profile of activities of oil and gas operations. This enables organisations to pinpoint their risk-mitigation strategies where it will really make a difference.

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Oyeleke Oluwaseun Oyerinde

The reality of climate change as an aspect of broader global and environmental change attributable to either natural or anthropogenic cause is becoming more evident. Equally, energy, chiefly oil and gas is not only a major climate change inducer via greenhouse gas emissions anymore, but also a victim of the impacts therein. As such, this paper examines the impact of recorded changes in climatic variables on oil and gas operations categorized into upstream, midstream and downstream operations representing exploration and production, transportation, along with processing and distribution respectively. Identified changes in weather events primarily driven by general climate change having significant impact on oil and gas operations and infrastructure include increasing temperature, increasing flooding, storm surges, sea level rise, coastal erosion, intense winds and waves, drought/water shortage and subsidence/landslides/mudslides and they all pose tremendous risk to onshore and offshore (shallow and deep water) operations and installations. Several adaptation measures are currently being implemented some of which are already yielding positive results. Adaptation measures are being complemented with mitigation strategies as long-term solutions. Sadly, most developing oil producing countries are still way behind in adopting various existing adaptation measures and implementing mitigative strategies due to prevalent low capacity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 557
Author(s):  
Barry A. Goldstein

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence (Adams 1770). Some people unfamiliar with upstream petroleum operations, some enterprises keen to sustain uncontested land use, and some people against the use of fossil fuels have and will voice opposition to land access for oil and gas exploration and production. Social and economic concerns have also arisen with Australian domestic gas prices tending towards parity with netbacks from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. No doubt, natural gas, LNG and crude-oil prices will vary with local-to-international supply-side and demand-side competition. Hence, well run Australian oil and gas producers deploy stress-tested exploration, delineation and development budgets. With these challenges in mind, successive governments in South Australia have implemented leading-practice legislation, regulation, policies and programs to simultaneously gain and sustain trust with the public and investors with regard to land access for trustworthy oil and gas operations. South Australia’s most recent initiatives to foster reserve growth through welcomed investment in responsible oil and gas operations include the following: a Roundtable for Oil and Gas; evergreen answers to frequently asked questions, grouped retention licences that accelerate investment in the best of play trends; the Plan for ACcelerating Exploration (PACE) Gas Program; and the Oil and Gas Royalty Return Program. Intended and actual outcomes from these initiatives are addressed in this extended abstract.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Patricia Maggi ◽  
Cláudia do Rosário Vaz Morgado ◽  
João Carlos Nóbrega de Almeida

ABSTRACT Brazil has performed an important role in the oil and gas industry mainly because its offshore E&P activities. The volume of oil produced in offshore fields had increased 88% in the last decade and correspond to more than 90% of national production. The maritime Exploration and Production (E&P) operations in Brazil started in the middle of the 1970's. In 1981 a law was promulgated to establish a compulsory environmental permit to many activities, including oil and gas exploration and production activities. Although this regulation has existed for over 25 years, only in 1999 was it effectively brought into force to the E&P sector, with the creation of the oil and gas specialized office integrated to the Intituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA (Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency). On January 2000 Brazil faced one its worst oil spills, in Guanabara Bay. A broken pipeline owned and operated by Petrobras spilt 1300 tone of bunker fuel into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. At that time, Brazil had no clear environmental scenario regarding the oil industry in Brazil: uncoordinated environmental regulations, debilitated environmental agencies and a relapse industry took part in the scenario. As a result of the repercussion of the disaster, in the same year was enacted the Federal Law 9966/2000, the so called “Oil Law”, on the prevention, control and inspection of pollution caused by the releasing of oil and other harmful substances in waters under national jurisdiction. The provisions of the Law 9966 included, among other things, the requirement for the notification to the competent environmental authority, the maritime authority and the oil regulating agency, of any incident which might cause water pollution. Although IBAMA receives the oil spill communications since 2001, only in 2010 the Agency began to include this information in a database. This paper discusses the offshore oil spill data received between 2010 and 2012.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Edwarsyah Edo ◽  
Seger Handoyo ◽  
Maria Eko Sulistyowati

One of the biggest challenges in the oil and gas industry in the upstream sector is sustainable of oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities to keep the field in continuous production. Successful exploration and production activities cannot be separated from the ability and management of human resources in the company. The company requires professional and high qualifications workforce in managing upstream oil and gas business activities that have characteristics of high capital, risk and technology intensives. This research was conducted with the aim of compiling an employee development system through training with the Appreciative Inquiry approach. The research method is qualitative using the stages of 4D Appreciative Inquiry. The results showed that the Appreciative Inquiry approach could bring out the positive strengths and core-values that exist within the organization, and make a commitment from the organization to do better in terms of employees training and development.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 571
Author(s):  
Stuart Trundle ◽  
Anne Probert

As pressure mounts for oil and gas companies to demonstrate tangible value to the communities in which they operate, there is a growing imperative for groups to actively engage with the industry and its operators. Regions who partner with the industry to identify and implement initiatives that leverage the investment can see very real economic and social gains from hosting oil and gas exploration and production. Venture Taranaki, the regional development agency for New Zealand’s only commercially producing oil and gas region, has been part of such a successful partnership in that area. They have worked extensively in the space between the industry and the community to maximise the benefits to the region. In doing so they have helped position Taranaki as a force in New Zealand’s economy, and it has developed initiatives that demystify and demonstrate the industry’s value to their community stakeholders, extending this momentum across the oil and gas supply chain. Its commercially neutral services have also advanced collaboration among the companies, fostered collective promotion of their capabilities, and assisted with management of demand-supply challenges in relation to project and shutdown planning. In this extended abstract the authors give an insight into their experiences, lessons for other regions, and proposals to further advance the industry-community relationship.


1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 494
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Hayne

Oil and gas exploration and production opportunities in the United States represent possibilities for investment by Australian petroleum companies in the 1990s. This paper focuses on the unique characteristics of the oil and gas industry, and is intended as an entrepreneurial guide to some of the practical business and tax issues which corporate executives will confront when proposing to do business in the United States. It provides a detailed examination of the key issues, but, due to the complexity of United States and Australian laws, this paper should not be used as a substitute for detailed advice.


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 207-220
Author(s):  
R W Plume

The release of CO2 into the atmosphere - and more specifically its consequential effect on global temperature – is now more-or-less universally acknowledged as a significant international environmental problem. Known colloquially as the Greenhouse Effect, it is the subject of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. That convention commits its signatories to specific actions directed at stabilising emissions of greenhouse gases (including CO2) at 1990 levels. It was signed at the UN Conference on Environment & Development (the “Earth Summit” which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992) by 153 countries including New Zealand. New Zealand has now officially ratified the Convention and has thus effectively committed itself to participate in international programmes of CO2 emission reduction. The Resource Management Act 1991 requires regulatory authorities to consider the environmental effects of activities in their jurisdiction. Carbon dioxide is now considered to be a “contaminant” as defined in the Act and it therefore becomes contingent upon local authorities to determine a suitable response to the problem of CO2 emissions. Regional and district policy statements and plans are required to be consistent with the national policy statement. Although a national policy statement on CO2 emissions does not yet exist it can be expected that eventually the approval of resource consents for oil and gas exploration and production activities typically will require specific actions relating to the release of CO2. The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere is almost entirely the direct result of two fundamental and worldwide activities: the combustion of fossil fuels and the removal of forest cover. When burned, hydrocarbons add large quantities of CO2 to the atmosphere. The removal of forest cover reduces the ability of the ecosystem to extract CO2 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis. The oil and gas industry is, of course, the source of a large proportion of the hydrocarbons used for energy and other purposes. It can therefore be expected that governments (including New Zealand) will focus on various aspects of the industry in their efforts to meet the reduction goal. Until recently the central Government approach to CO2 emission reduction was to implement the so-called no regrets policies which are desirable goals (e.g. increased energy efficiency) which have the positive spin-off effect of reducing CO2 emissions. By themselves such policies are likely to be inadequate to meet the internationally accepted reduction target. The Government must therefore implement more stringent measures. As the matter now stands the Government is investigating a diverse range of methods for reducing CO2 emissions. Because CO2 emissions and energy use are inextricably linked, reducing CO2 emissions can clearly have a detrimental effect on economic development. The 'holy grail' of policy development in this area is to reduce CO2 emissions without producing harmful effects on the economy. Several options (and myriad variations on the theme) have been put forward including, for example, carbon taxes and tradeable quotas. These options and others are now being assessed by Government officials. The industry should be alert to the distinct possibility that policy will focus directly on oil and gas production. From a regulatory point of view such an approach has an enticing simplicity but the effect on the oil and gas industry may prove to be less than desirable.


1975 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Henry R. White

Concern for the protection of the environment has resulted in the creation of number of new U.S. statutes and regulations which have an important impact on American oil and gas exploration and production operations. The author provides brief historical survey of some of the legislation which provided foundation for laws enacted within the past few years. He discusses in some detail the National Environmental Policy Act provisions and concludes that they have been construc tive force for change, both in the government and the oil and gas industry. The author then provides an overview of various statutes and. regulations establishing guidelines to ensure clean air and water, which are of particular importance to oil and gas producers. In conclusion, the author stresses the importance of maintaining balance between the need for healthy environment and the need for an adequate supply of energy.


Author(s):  
Djakhongir Saidov

This chapter investigates the main sources governing international oil and gas operations around the world, with a view to examining whether we are witnessing the emergence of transnational petroleum law (lex petrolea). The chapter explores the nature of governance in the petroleum industry and the extent to which the oil and gas industry is self-governed or governed by the state-made law. It assesses the degree of standardization of governance to determine whether it is so high as to give rise to the emergence of lex petrolea. The main focus is on sources, specific to the oil and gas industry, such as: model contracts, industry usages, standards, and guidelines promulgated by industry organizations and associations. This chapter argues that lex petrolea is not yet a mature legal order. Its sources are best characterized as transnational layers of governance of the international exploration and production operations. As to the relationship between the alleged lex petrolea and the state-made law, it is demonstrated that the two are vitally important to and mutually dependent on each other.


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