Preparedness for Oil Spill Incidents
Andy Nicoll
PAJ Symposium 2012

Presentation Overview
OSRL in context
Causes and Consequences
Risk Assessment Process
Industry Action– Reducing consequences

Summary©

Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL)
1984

1993

1995

2000

2005

Heritage
Members

EARL
establishedManagement
taken over fromBP

Global Alliance
formedGlobalResponse
Networkdeveloped

2005

2006

2007

2010

2011

Tier 3 baseset up inBahrain

Change ofcompany nameto Oil SpillResponse

Formal mergerof OSRL &EARL to form
OSRL/EARL

Post Macondo(Gulf of Mexico)©

A unique industry cooperativeOil industry’s Tier 3 spill response provider ofchoice
Wholly owned by 42 oil / energy companies

A global remit (onshore and offshore)

Industry funded and not-for-profit
A major focus on preparedness; oil spill training,planning & exercises, project support©

Our Mission
To provide resources to respond to oil spills
efficiently and effectively on a global basis
Southampton

Aberdeen
London

North Africa
HoustonBahrainRegistered Office
Regional Office

LegendBaseRegional Representative

West andCentral
AfricaSingapore
Jakarta

3 Bases and 5 Regional Offices/Representatives©

Typical Causes of Incidents

Groundings

Load / Discharge Ops

Collisions

Infrastructure Integrity

Process Failure

Sub-sea well blow-out

Hull Failure

Ship to Ship Transfers

Fire /Explosion©

Typical Consequences

Environmental (Biological ) Systems

Environmental (Physical) Systems

Socio-Economic Considerations©

Oil Spill Risk Evaluation Process
Risk
Assessment

Risk
analyses

Preparedness
Assessment• Review• Audit• Evaluate

Elements of
preparedness:

Prevention

Risk
Management

Preparedness•Legislation & Regulation•Contingency Planning•Combating Resources•Training•Exercises©

Adapted from IMO Manual on Oil Spill Risk Evaluation and Assessment of Response Preparedness (2010)

Reducing Likelihood
Prevention
Improvements in facility design
Location of facilities in areas of lower
incident probability
Robust maintenance and inspection
programmes
High quality shipping / operating standards
Security / anti terrorism measures©

Reducing Consequence
Preparedness
Legislation and Regulation
Contingency Planning
Response resources (Equipment ANDpeople)
Training
Exercises©

Post Macondo Lessons, Reports and Findings©

Legislation & Regulation
Safety Case
Approach

Prescriptivemeasures

Worst Case
Scenario

Most Credible
Scenario

Global Approach

Regional Approach

Sovereignty

Local autonomy©

Contingency Planning and Tiered Response
Operational factors– Probability and frequency of a spilloccurring– Worst case scenario incidents– Oil type

Setting factors– Proximity to operations– Operating conditions– Sensitive resources at risk

Legislation– National / Local Requirements

Available Capabilities©

Equipment - Hardware
Not more equipment than necessary(Sufficient to fill gap until next Tier arrives)– Matched with personnel numbers– Matched with risk profile– Able to be handled /ease of use– Simple to maintain (access to spare parts)– Matched with logistics / storage capability– Matched with maintenance capability
14©

Training
Identify training needs:– Management– Operational / Tactical– Refresher

Training Standards– IMO Model Courses– National requirements©

Four Types of Exercise
Tabletop Exercise
Notification Exercise
Limited Scale Exercise (e.g. Deployment)
Full Incident Management Exercise©

Principles of Exercises
Set clear, realistic measurable objectives
Aim is to “improve” (not to “impress”)
Keep it simple to begin with! (do it often)
Evaluating is as important as conducting©

Implications for OSRL
More Responders
More Equipment
More Exercises
More Callouts
More Preparedness Requests
Involvement in industry specialprojects
18– OSPRAG Cap– SWRP project©

Summary (truisms)
Improvements in Prevention will give most beneficial outcome
Risk Assessment is an integral part of effective Contingency
Planning
It is important not to just fight the last war
Response plans must be credible /deliverable / exercised
Response equipment alone does not in itself equate toimproved preparedness
Remember the fundamental principles of building response
capacity based in a tiered structure based upon risk exposure.
“Education, Education, Education!”©

Andy Nicoll
Advocacy Manager
Oil Spill Response Limited
andrewnicoll@oilspillresponse.com