bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Evolution of International Standards for Environmental and Social Performance
Authors: Motherwell Jonathan
Published: July 2010

The author reflects on the state of the art in the petroleum industry for incorporating environmental and social standards into project development and execution. A review of the past 15 to 20 years considers his experience on the Chad-Cameroon oil development, the Bolivia to Brazil gas pipeline, the OCENSA (Colombia) oil pipeline and similar major projects which involved international financing.

The adoption of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards in 2006 and the associated development of the Equator Principles in the 2003 to 2006 timeframe are then summarized. The IFC has also prepared Guidance Notes and EHS Guidelines as companion documents to the Performance Standards. The Guidance Notes are updated periodically while the Guidelines were formally issued in 2007. The latter include both general guidelines along with industry sector guidelines; oil and gas developments are covered in both onshore and offshore versions.

A number of the oil and gas companies (particularly the majors) have now adopted environmental and social management systems which build off of these international standards, as well as industry initiatives (e.g. – IPIECA Climate Change and Biodiversity working groups). Normally, their policies reference the IFC Performance Standards but don't formally adopt them, particularly the Guidelines.

In summary, the international bar has been raised with the IFC performance standards becoming the benchmark for satisfying environmental and social requirements. The petroleum industry is responding to this challenge in a somewhat uneven manner, but with a commitment to improving performance.
Recycle of Organic Solid Waste to Mitigate Environmental Impact on Seismic Crews
Authors: Pabon E.
Published: July 2010

The activities performed on seismic operations generate environmental impacts either during base camp installation or line operations; this generated the need to implement alternative measures or control methods to reduce the agents which contribute to such impacts. This study is focused on the base camps, because according to statistics from our projects in Bolivia, that's where the majority of organic solid waste is generated.

Following this, came the idea of recycling the organic solid waste, based on methods to obtain a sustainable benefit.

Implementation and application of Earthworm culture at Base Camp from to obtain organic fertilizer

Closed Waste Management Cycle by cultivation areas at base using fertilizer produced by organic transformation with the resulting production of vegetables and fruit.

Closed Waste Management Cycle by the implementation of forest seedlings employing organic fertilizer from Earthworm culture.

This way we perform the daily routine to mitigate the environmental negative impacts that may be generated by base Camps: through low cost implementation methods and easy operation.

The environmental monitoring from generation of organic solid waste until its recycling represents the closing of the Waste Management Cycle at Base Camp and it is a component of the best environmental practices in which all Project workforce can participate.
ANP Resolution 43: Operational Safety Management System - SGSO
Authors: Canto Leonardo dos
Published: July 2010

To fulfill its purpose of promoting regulation, contracting and monitoring of economics activities involved in Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil, the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels – ANP has defined requirementes and directives for implementation and operation an Operational Safety Management System - SGSO in exploration and production maritime instalattion in order to protect human lives and environment through adoption of 17 management practices.

The practices are focused on leadership, management and staff, installations and technology and operational practices.

To demonstrate that your management system meets the requirements of SGSO the concesionaire must submit to ANP a set of documents called Operational Safety Documentation – DSO.
Oil and Gas Development and Social Responsibility—Aligning Project and Community Goals for Mutually Beneficial Outcomes
Authors: Martin Danielle
Published: July 2010

Even on the most high-risk projects in the some of the most challenging locations, it is possible and even advantageous to progress the social and environmental aspirations of host communities and contribute towards improving the lives of those communities.

This paper discusses the business case for developers for establishing joint development goals with host communities. It case studies a number of complex projects that are upturning traditional approaches to project development by engaging host communities in the development proposition.

The paper, supported by the case studies, considers: The importance of establishing the broader social aspirations of communities in relation to development at the outset.The criticality of establishing a mutual understanding of the commercial, non-negotiable parameters of the developer.The cumulative impacts and opportunities for both developer and community of multiple, large scale projects.The role of government and donors.The limitations of developers in contributing to broader social development.

The paper examines the social impact assessment and performance techniques used to understand and manage the risks and opportunities of oil and gas development. It illustrates the effectiveness of such an approach and provides practical experience for the benefit of future oil and gas exploration and production.

The case studies presented in this paper demonstrate the advantages of progressing project and social development aspirations mutually with commercial project development. They illustrate how oil and gas development can be a powerful force in the long-term, sustainable progression of developing societies.

The concepts described herein expand the boundaries of leading practice in respect to environmental and social impact assessment, community engagement and social responsibility in the oil and gas industry.
A Risk-Based Approach to Fitness for Work in the Oil & Gas Industry
Authors: Donnelly Robin P , Cox Rob
Published: July 2010

The nature of global oil and gas operations dictates that there are specific jobs and positions that require Fitness to Work (FTW) assessments in order to mitigate injury or illness, reduce risk to the business, risk to the community, and the avoidance of damage to company reputation. FTW is an important element of managing risks at the workplace because any individual who is unable to complete a given task safely places themselves and others at risk. This is recognized by employers, who go to great lengths to ensure that their employees are physically and mentally competent to work on their assigned tasks.

Currently there are a wide variety of practices and procedures applied to the FTW management process itself, as well as variations in approved practices between individual countries. FTW assessment (unless specifically done for defined risk groups) is not permitted in some countries, however in other regions, a full FTW assessment is mandatory.

Much individual guidance exists on the medical criteria and the various components of FTW assessment, and by and large, the contents of FTW assessments do not pose a challenge to the industry, however a greater problem that remains unaddressed is that of defining when these assessments should be performed, the candidate population for assessment, the frequency of assessment, and whether the employer has either the need or legal mandate to perform the assessment.

This paper describes the OGP- IPIECA Health Committee approach to formulating a set of industry guidelines on this issue to provide a common, risk-based approach applicable to the global oil and gas industry. This paper does not provide detailed guidance on medical evaluation of fitness for work. Other comprehensive documents are available for this purpose. 12
Equipping Hazard and Risk Awareness Training Course Providers with Web Based Virtual Reality Risk Perception Measurement Simulation Tests
Authors: McGrath Tim
Published: July 2010

Many Operators and Contractors that identify contributing root causes such as lack of risk awareness during incident investigations remedy this situation by sending their workers to hazard and risk awareness training courses run internally or by external training providers. Until now assessing course attendees improvement has only been measured either by lagging or leading indicators of safety performance. Improvement in hazard and risk awareness training promises to assist in the reduction of incidents and accidents where root causes include ‘poor risk assessment’ which may contribute to a step change from the current plateau in HSE performance.

A web based computer virtual reality simulator has been developed to test the degree of improvement of course attendees. Participants are immersed into a range of realistic work scenarios in a web based computer virtual reality simulation of the working environment where they focus on completing realistic workplace activities. Measurement of hazard and risk awareness takes into account the ability of each individual to detect, assess and react to various cues hazardous situations and their knowledge and willingness to follow rules and procedures.

The web based virtual reality simulation is accessed online so that supervisors can nominate course attendees to undertake online testing prior to attending hazard and risk awareness training and again upon completion. Participants are emailed a link to access the testing prior to the training course date as a pretest. After the course delivery another link is emailed to the participant for them to complete the post test. Feedback is provided to the participant immediately on completion of the testing via an onscreen report. A report is emailed to the supervisor detailing both individual and group results via an email report. This report provides the supervisor with an understanding of where each individual is on their safety journey the workgroup as a whole. This information allows the Supervisor to determine additional controls that may need to be put in place to ensure work is conducted safely. Supervisors can provide their training department with copies of their workgroup results to determine the effectiveness of training courses to meet the differing needs of individuals.

Meta-analysis and reporting of course attendee results to training providers enables the continual development of hazard and risk awareness training courses to meet the needs of course attendees.
Oil Spill Emergency Plan Exercises in E&P Offshore Activities in Brazil
Authors: Soares C. R. , Freire M. F.
Published: July 2010

Oil Spill Emergency Plan Exercises in exploration and production (E&P) offshore are performed as required under the single Oil Spill Emergency Plan (PEI) for the installation to verify the effectiveness of the structure response to a possible oil spill that exceeds the limits of the offshore platform and reaches the sea. These exercises are based on accidental hypotheses arising from accidental risk analysis, among which incidents of oil pollution and apply to the exploration, drilling and production offshore activities. This work will be presented as they are carried out simulated emergency incidents of oil pollution in the offshore activities of E&P, that exceeds the limits of the offshore platform, by geographical area, covering the actions developed from the planning, implementation and review of the exercise by the company and the Brazilian environmental federal authority (IBAMA) and improvements when compared to those made previously by platform.

The results of these simulations, using the strengths and improvement opportunities identified, show how the structure is the company's response to an incident of oil pollution at sea, considering the performance of the organizational structure of response, operational procedures and use and effectiveness of response equipment, so the company can assess whether its strategy to respond to incidents of oil pollution is established and implemented or needs adjustment.
Oilfield Abandonment and Soil Restoration in The Netherlands, Experiences for the Future
Authors: Kant Aad
Published: July 2010

After more than 50 years of oil production, from 1991 through 2010, the ‘Schoonebeek Oilfield’ has been cleaned up and restored. The ‘scope of work’ consists of the abandonment of all (wellhead) locations, metering stations, installations, cables, pipelines and roads', including all disturbances of the soil quality. Finally, the area has been prepared for cultivation and transferred over to the owners. During the project, approximately 1 million m3 of contaminated soil has been removed and more the 2 million m3 of groundwater has been extracted.

The activities were carried out in such a way that the costs were reduced to a minimum, whereby the project was treated as a continuous improvement process. Besides the application of proven technology, new techniques have been developed. Not all of the newly developed techniques were successful. By way of evaluation at regular intervals, lessons were learned about engineering and data management, planning and necessary permit applications as well as clustered realization of projects. Also, lessons were learned for future operations based on the soil and groundwater contaminations found. For new developments, soil risk analyses were carried out and soil protecting measurements were taken on well locations and treatment plants. By not only taking into account the production of oil and gas but also considering prevention of contamination of the soil and/or the groundwater, the total life cycle costs can be reduced significantly. At the end of production time, the locations can then easily be given back to the owners or nature.
Ergonomics Guidelines for the Design Process
Authors: Duarte F. , Silva G. , Lima F. , Maia N.
Published: July 2010

This paper presents some basic ergonomics guidelines for oil platform design. These guidelines aim at considering the work of future users, from the beginning of the project, anticipating working condition problems. In this case study, the ergonomics guidelines are based on a two-year ergonomics research divided into two main stages: [1] visits to the petroleum platforms; and [2] validation of the guidelines by the design engineers.

By analyzing operating platforms we suggest the construction of what we call settings of usage. These are schemes of usage that preserve the essential relations of current situations and are able to advise the designers’ activities. These settings are not general guidelines, nor detailed specifications. They are minimal specifications capable of influencing final solutions. These guidelines aim at helping design engineers from the very beginning of the project.

This paper will present settings of usage and guidelines for pig systems, valves, stairways, turbo-generator and cargo handling systems. The knowledge accumulated by ergonomics about human behavior and its relation with objects is, nowadays, considered insufficient. The human factors manuals are not used or read by the engineers. They do not understand the rules produced nor do they know how to design following the rules if they had read them. Apart from the approach focused on human properties and abstract tasks, the project centered on activity analysis gives privilege to the practical dimension establishing distinguished design criteria according to the agent (usability, manufacturability and maintainability) but also guides the user's needs (in practical and effective usage situations).

The identification of the suggested settings of usage in order to instruct the basic project does not substitute future ergonomists who will work in cooperation with the design engineers. These settings of usage create basic guidelines which will anticipate and avoid problems concerning inadequate efforts and postures, access difficulty and displacements, execution difficulty levels (functionality), accident risks, the need for a higher number of operators involved in the task execution, etc.
The Role of Multinational Petrochemical Companies in the Surveillance and Control of Infection Diseases
Authors: Lee Richard V. , Johnson Clarion , Flynn Louise
Published: July 2010

Multinational petrochemical corporations maintain occupational health programs that support their diverse operations around the globe. These programs have the potential to provide important observations and information to support international surveillance and response for emerging infectious diseases.
Local Content Development – Facing New Challenges with Defining its Boundaries and its Measurement Indicators
Authors: Bordmann Vincent
Published: July 2010

With Host Countries stepping up their demands and expectations in terms of local content, defining its perimeter and boundaries has created some confusion among the industry. It becomes a challenge for IOCs/NOCs to agree on its definition, perimeter, and hence on its indicators to measure it. This proposed paper will present a possible perimeter for local content development initiatives and suggest key performance indicators.

Local content –aimed at enhancing skills, developing suppliers and infrastructures of Host Countries in connection with field development and production projects –now occupies a predominant place in the oil & gas producing countries.

Usually measured as a percentage of investment, of man hours, of weight of equipment manufactured, or of jobs created and industrial bases used, local content concerns industrial capacities as much as human resources. IOC/NOC operators therefore act simultaneously on multiple levers to obtain progress on this front: training the country's technicians and managers, hiring local staff, stimulating the networks of SME and pre-qualifying local companies.

This proposed paper is based on a definition of local content applied by TOTAL for its oil & gas development projects. It is also based on a methodology applied by TOTAL to measure local content for its oil & gas development projects.

The main application of the information provided in the proposed paper is to provide the industry with one way of defining and measuring local content, which is not always formalised. Case studies will not be presented in this paper, only the methodology. Indeed, when it comes to benchmark local content of different oil & gas development project, it is rarely possible to do it, due to different definition / perimeters, and absence of local content indicators.
Report of Experience - Health Promotion Program Implementation Strategies in an Oil Industry
Authors: Trindade Leticia Lima , Reis Ana Dirce , Alves Sandra Lucia
Published: July 2010

This paper reports the results achieved by a Health Promotion Program in Oil Company during the year 2008. The implementation of this program begun in 2003 and involved a multidisciplinary team. Over the years it benefited from strong participation of supervisors of the operational area.

Application

Companies are already aware that promoting health and quality of life for employees is a guaranteed investment in both - in the medium and long term. Small quantitative advances in the area of health promotion can cause a significant impact if we are to consider that the change of lifestyle of an employee affects his colleagues and his family to make healthy choices too. Thus the Health Promotion Program aims to encourage the workforce to adopt healthier habits and life style changes.

Results, Observations, and Conclusions:

The consolidation of many ideas occurs from partnerships and multipliers. This report presents the actions proposed and implemented in the year 2008, by a multidisciplinary team consisting of physical educators, dance teacher and yoga teacher, nutritionists, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and psychologists. Collective and individual actions wewr promoted throught the year in order to stimulate all the workforce to adopt healthy dietary habits and behaviors, including: immunization, procedures for sanitary control of food and water treatment for domestic use, labor gymnastics daily practice, approach and treatment of smoking and drinking habits, competitions of desserts, salads, integral biscuit, healthy snacks, light and diet desserts recipes and promotion of leisure and sports activities.

Significance of Subject Matter

The Health Promotion Program helped to build a culture of health promotion by promoting Leisure, Health, Education, Food and Healthy Active Lifestyle. Well informed employees who are aware that their behavior may determine the greater or lesser risk of falling ill are certainly more healthy, productive, and possibly happier.

Workforce, Health, Health Promotion Program
HSE Management System for Baseline Gathering in a Remote Area of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest
Authors: Petkoff Irene , Morante Gonzalo , Navarro Nelson , Salazar José
Published: July 2010

ConocoPhillips holds leases over three blocks covering approximately 6,200 million acres in the northeast Peruvian Amazon Basin where it plans to perform exploration activities starting with a large regional (2D) seismic program. Most of this area of interest has little or no history of seismic activities in the past.

The northeast Peruvian Amazon Basin has been identified as a high biodiversity area dominated by primary forest. There have been a few scientific expeditions that have been able to record biological and physical information on a small area of the blocks. Therefore, to adequately evaluate the habitats which the seismic will impact, good coverage and extensive sampling of significant habitats are required.

In addition, the area of geological interest is located in a sector where little population exists and rivers are narrow and seasonally highly variable. This means that access to the area is very limited and should be carefully planned as all logistic support would have to be aerial and fluvial with its limitations regarding loads, weather, and minimization of impacts.

Under this scenario, two large field campaigns were planned incorporating biological, physical, and social scientists together with local community "experts" who would stay in the field for periods of 30 days. These had to be supported by in-field catering, camping and medical support and a medical evaluation procedure.

This paper describes how a suitable health, safety, environmental, community relations and contingency plan was prepared. It identifies key risks and how these were prevented or mitigated, including planning, inspection, training, and supervision. Finally, the paper presents the key metrics associated with the operation.
Managing Biosecurity for a Major Natural Gas Development in a Sensitive Protected Area
Authors: van der Merwe Johann
Published: July 2010

Biosecurity is one of the emerging priorities of the 21st century. Biosecurity threatens biodiversity, economic output and our lifestyles as invasive species establish and proliferate at a pace not witnessed before. As globalization progresses, trade and travel increase and the risk of invasive species being introduced to new environments and habitats increases. Coupled with potential ecosystem changes (perhaps the consequence of climate change) biosecurity has become one of the focus areas of this generation. Within that focus area, arresting the loss of biodiversity as the consequence of non-indigenous species introduction has emerged as a world wide priority.

As exploration and resource extraction advances into remote and often sensitive areas of the world, resource companies must expect to be challenged by stakeholder groups who have a very different agenda to that of proponents of such exploration or extraction projects. In this process the barriers to entry will consistently be raised, new environmental management benchmarks will continue to be set and impact mitigation will continue to include areas previously not considered as part of project cost.

Biosecurity is rapidly becoming a new project discipline as the community struggles to internalize the inter- generational impact that biosecurity incidents present on communities. Historically, governments were held responsible for funding biosecurity legacy issues. This tax payer funded ‘clean-up’ is fast coming to an end with a purposeful drive that ‘risk makers’ must be responsible for the biosecurity risks that accompany their activities. This was witnessed by the position West Australians, the West Australian Government and other subject matter experts took when it was proposed that a gas processing facility be located on an offshore protected area with irreplaceable conservation values. This paper addresses the process that was followed and the management system that was developed to protect the conservation values of this protected area.
Determining the Ecological Value of Fish Resources at Platform Decommissioning Sites using ROV and Trapping Techniques in the Santa Barbara Channel, California, USA
Authors: Krause P. R. , Hill R. W. , Gala W. R. , Larew S.
Published: July 2010

As part of decommissioning four platforms off the coast of California (USA), the underlying drill cutting mounds were left behind. These mounds are covered with several meters of "shell hash" from bivalve shells dislodged from the platform jacket and natural sedimentation that has accumulated in the 30+ years following cessation of drilling activities. Previous studies have indicated that the "shell mounds" provide a complex hard bottom habitat and support a variety of fish and invertebrate species typical of a natural hard bottom community. This paper describes field studies to further characterize the ecological utilization by fish and invertebrates of the shell mounds and the surrounding soft bottom areas of Santa Barbara Channel. Initially, ROV surveys were performed to provide video transects of fish use. However, poor visibility limited the usefulness of the ROV approach. A multi-season fish trapping study using standard commercial fish traps is currently being conducted and the results of the first two deployments are presented and discussed. The assemblage of fish and invertebrates observed in the fish traps from the mounds include several species of rockfishes (genus Sebastes), ling cod, rock crabs, whelks and bat stars that are typical of natural hard bottom communities in the Santa Barbara Channel. Results to date indicate that the shell mounds have more fish and invertebrates and a more diverse benthic community than the soft-bottom reference areas. This preliminary investigation supports previous studies that indicated that fish habitat value of the shell mounds is greater than that of the surrounding soft bottom habitat and supports leaving the mounds in place.
The Incorporation of Ergonomics in HSE Management: Contributions and Challenges
Authors: Penteado E. V. , Mendes L. D. , Bobsin M. A.
Published: July 2010

Ergonomics is an important field of study and intervention to obtain continuous improvement of production systems, especially in matters of health and safety. This article analyses the introduction of an Ergonomics Program within the HSE Management in a research and development unit of an energy company. The program was structured based on three main focuses: to adequate work conditions, to introduce ergonomics in design conception of work spaces and to promote educational actions.

Due to the diversity of existing processes in the unit, including demands in laboratories, offices and operational areas, this work contributes to expand the knowledge of problems relative to these fields and the possible solutions available. Therefore, the results and information this paper portrays have application in areas such as: occupational health and safety, improving work conditions; development of ergonomics programs in similar installations and work space design.

The interventions resulted in the mitigation of biomechanical requirements (physical effort, repetitive movements, flow conflicts, among others), in the reduction of time pressure and in the increase of comfort. These results were achieved through changes in organizational aspects and in the configuration of work spaces. In the matter of educational actions, the strategies adopted for dissemination of information and the diffusion of the program are described, aiming mostly to affect the work force in order to incorporate the principles of ergonomics in their daily work. The collaborative aspect of this process, with strong interaction with the employees, was critical to the results achieved. Some approaches lead to the design of new equipment, lay-outs and spaces; witch indicates that is important to promote the interaction between the ergonomic program and the designing areas, as well as to include ergonomics as a complementary subject in project planning. These different experiences emphasize the contribution of an ergonomic approach to the sustainability of a business, through optimizing resources, enhancement of performance of productive systems, preserving and promoting health and wellbeing, the reduction of accident risks, therefore increasing the process reliability.
Conducting Effective Health Impact Assessments in the Oil and Gas Industry
Authors: Satin Kenneth , Stock Allison
Published: July 2010

Health impact assessments (HIAs) have been used for a number of years in the public sector to assess the potential for impacts associated with urban redevelopment projects. HIAs can also serve as a valuable tool in the evaluation of capital projects in the oil and gas sector. Conducting HIAs for industry capital projects, however, is not common and few people or organizations have experience performing HIAs in this context. While some guidance about HIAs is available, the focus is more on what HIAs are all about rather than how to perform one. These circumstances led us to develop HIA practices that are compatible with the generally accepted practices reported by others, but are nonetheless customized to meet our business requirements and expectations regarding HIAs. This paper discusses the elements of our HIA practices that we believe are key to producing effective HIAs. These include involving the "right people" at the right time, and HIA training to create a pool of health experts to support the process.
How to Select Appropriate Quantitative Safety Risk Criteria-Applications from the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Guidelines on Quantitative Safety Risk Criteria
Authors: Jones Dave , Berger Scott
Published: July 2010

As oil and gas producing and LNG facilities become increasingly complex, the potential for and consequences of a major incident is likely to increase as well. High consequence, low frequency events can best be understood, and therefore managed, through the use of quantitative risk assessment tools. While many risk-based decisions can be made without referring to risk criteria, in those cases where absolute judgments about the tolerability of risk must be made, quantitative risk criteria are essential to the decision-making process. However, establishing a technically sound basis for selecting risk criteria has proven problematic. Worldwide regulatory criteria vary significantly forcing companies to make difficult judgments as to what is an appropriate and defensible risk criteria.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Center for Chemical Process Safety has recently published a comprehensive, precedent-setting book titled, "Guidelines for Developing Quantitative Safety Risk Criteria."1 This paper will provide an overview of the new CCPS guidelines and show how many of the obstacles to establishing risk criteria can be addressed.
Chemical Exposure Scenarios for the Use and Handling of Drilling Fluids in the Oil and Gas Industry
Authors: Walker Kirsty , Smulders Chantal , Schei Trond M. , Nistov Aud , James Reagan
Published: July 2010

Approximately 90% of the chemicals supplied to the well site are used during drilling operations, in particular in the formulation of drilling fluids. Current oil and gas industry initiatives aim to ensure that the occupational health hazards of the chemicals used are minimised. In addition, through the implementation of legislative directives such as REACH, there is also an increasing emphasis on reducing personal exposure to chemical substances.

This paper will investigate and show varying chemical exposure scenarios associated with the chemicals used in drilling fluids at the well site. The technical requirements of the chemicals and their physical and chemical properties will be reviewed with respect to their function within drilling operations. The opportunities for personal exposure and the occupational health hazards associated with the use of drilling fluids will be identified. In addition, the factors that influence the extent of exposure and the monitoring measures required to quantify exposure will be presented.

Following the hierarchy of control, examples of remedial control measures will be provided and recommendations for the correct application of operating procedures will be given that aim to provide an improved work environment.

The information presented has resulted from collaborative work to produce industry-wide guidelines by members of the International Oil and Gas Producers Association (OGP) and International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) Health Committee Task Force on Drilling Fluids Health Effects. This paper also draws upon the earlier SPE 108514 paper "Occupational Exposure Hazards Related to the Use of Drilling Fluids Presented with Remedial Risk Management Guidelines" that introduced the Guidelines to the industry.
Transitioning Safely From Greenfield to Operations: Case Study of a Major Capital Project
Authors: McCulloch B.
Published: July 2010

The Frade Field is this company's first operated oil field development major capital project in Brazil. This paper provides an overview of how the company successfully transitioned from a Greenfield organization to a functioning offshore production operation while maintaining the company's commitment to world-class safety performance.

As the Frade Project entered the construction, installation, and commissioning phase in 2006, the company faced multiple challenges. The existing in-country organization had to grow exponentially to effectively manage the project. Contractors for all aspects of the project (including land and air transportation, shore base, supply/subsea equipment installation vessels, drilling rigs and supporting drilling services, and a new Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel) had to be selected and brought into alignment with the company's HES management system. Most significantly, the company's expectations for instituting an incident-free workforce culture had to be met. This was a focus area since many of the available contractors in Brazil were struggling with their safety performance and did not have robust HES management systems in place.

To meet the safety challenge, the company employed a suite of strategies, including:

Contracting consultants to assist in deployment of safety culture processes within the contractor organizations Embedding HES professionals at the contractor worksites (e.g., shore base, drilling rigs, supply vessels, FPSO) Bringing in expatriate company HES advisors to provide support and mentoring to the national HES personnel (company and contractor) Partnering with contractors to develop HES mitigation plans and bridging documents, share roles such as training, and assist with closure of identified gaps Providing strong leadership visibility and support through management field visits and contractor forums Openly sharing successful practices

These strategies have been a main contributor to the strong safety performance of the Frade Project. Compared to Oil and Gas Producers Association data for offshore operations, the Project's current LTI and TRIR rates are commendable. In fact, the Project completed a period of two million consecutive man hours without a recordable injury – with a majority of contractor work being high risk activities such as offshore drilling and supply/installation vessels. Contractor feedback points to the proactive interaction between the Frade Project and contractor organizations from the early contracting phase as being the driving force behind the success of this major capital project.
Environmental Permitting Offshore Brazil - A New Approach For Oil & Gas Activities
Authors: Soares C. R. , Scofano A. M.
Published: July 2010

Since 2003 a new approach to conduct the environmental permitting process for oil & gas activities offshore Brazil has been negotiated with the Brazilian environmental federal authority (IBAMA). The new model is based on the concept of geographical areas, where an operator can develop a set of drilling or production projects considering just one administrative process, instead of carrying out individual ones which usually led to more prolonged permits.

This model has been successfully applied by Petrobras in the drilling permits (LO) for the Geographical Areas of Campos and Espírito Santo, which respond for almost 80% of the total drilling activity carried out by the company in Brazilian waters, nowadays. The model was also applied to license a production area in the northern part of Campos Basin called Parque das Baleias. In this area, a Preliminary Permit (LP) was granted and for each new project (platform, pipeline) there are just a few steps to follow to get the Installation (LI) and Operation Permit (LO).

Before using this innovative model, for each individual permitting process there were a need to prepare a different Environmental Impact Assessment Study (EIA) that, considering the characteristics of the locations, usually contained the same environmental diagnosis and the same drilling rigs and fluids descriptions. Not only repeated work was been done by operators, but also the Environmental Authority had the same effort in analyze all the documents. As a consequence, the use of the new model reduced the number of processes and allowed the establishment of unified mitigating and compensating environmental projects (environmental education, environmental monitoring and social communication programs). Finally, the unification of environmental projects, contracts and reports allows a better HSE planning and management of the activities by the operators.

It is important to stand out that such environmental projects are more comprehensive and complex. On the other hand, allows an integrated vision aggregating value to the actions derived form the environmental permitting processes.
HSE Supporting Business
Authors: Santos Jairo dos , Barbosa Luiz Alberto
Published: July 2010

This paper describes the strategy adopted by Rio de Janeiro E&P Business Unit (RJ-BU), from Petrobras, in order to effectively integrate HSE practices into the business processes through the establishment of requirements which are integrated and aligned to ISO-14001, OHSAS-18001, Petrobras Guide for Excellence Management and Petrobras HSE Corporate Guidelines. These requirements make the pillars to support a single and robust management system, with 28 interrelated practices, focused on simplicity and efficiency, establishing a logical and coherent system.

The search for excellence drives companies to adopt environmental, quality, safety and health management systems, which are based on international standards models as ISO-14001, ISO-9001 and OHSAS-18001. Most companies adopt specific management systems to each type of a reference model, establishing environmental management systems working with parallel quality, health and safety management systems.

Refusing this mind model, the application of this new and innovative strategy provides the conditions to improve best business and HSE results, by supporting managers in the direction and control of processes chain and achieving effectively manager's engagement.

This approach represents a change of paradigm for management systems because it avoids being existence of multiple management systems, which are inefficient, hard to manage, besides consuming a high level of resources.

HSE integrated with quality practices supporting business processes has made possible to improve HSE performance associated with best production results and profitability.
Validation of Produced Water Discharge Modeling from Guamaré Outfalls I and II, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Authors: Lammardo A. C. , Gallo A. , Lammardo M. P. , Mendes A. L. , Azevedo M. M.
Published: July 2010

This paper is intended to present and discuss the evaluation of produced water discharge modeling results for Outfalls I and II from the Guamaré Fluid Treatment and Processing Plant (Rio Grande Norte State, Brazil) with field measurements.

Local hydrodynamic patterns were described through a POM-based model after validation against simultaneous wind, currents and sea surface elevation data sets gathered during field surveys at Guamaré costal area. Produced water discharge scenarios were simulated with CHEMMAP (a chemical discharge model). As a basis for comparison with CHEMMAP results, a 4-step dye-tracer field measurement was conducted in the outfall area to provide dispersion estimative and accurate near and far-field dilution values on different hydrodynamic situations. New CHEMMAP simulations were then carried out to assimilate the measured metocean data and outfall discharge values.

Comparisons revealed a good agreement between field measurements and model results on most tidal regimes (i.e. flood and ebb flows on both neap and spring tide). Correlation coefficient between measured and modeled effluent concentration ranged from 39% to 81%. Advection, direction and spatial extent of detectable effluent plume were remarkably similar on different tidal regimes.

A comparison was also made between the new plume dispersion patterns (modeling validation) and the sampling survey points of environmental monitoring. These survey points were located in the most critical areas concerning effluent concentrations. The sampling points suggested has proven to be effective to the water quality monitoring objectives in the area, since it has covered all the significant impact area calculated through modeling.
Safety at the Design Stage of Large Engineering Projects: A Study of Safety Culture
Authors: Leal O. F. , Knauth D. R. , Passuello C. , Oliveira L. F.
Published: July 2010

Based on the safety culture analytical framework, this paper presents the findings of a socio-anthropological research that addressed six different design teams or departments of Brazilian companies. Each one of the six cases was responsible for a different large engineering project, including process plants, logistics, harbors, railways and oil production. The strategy used for investigating safety culture at the project design dynamic level was a triangulation involving quantitative and qualitative methods: focus group (FG), open-ended interviews with key people, and survey. Results from the six studied cases are presented and comparatively assessed. The findings of the cultural analysis point out to a diversity of deeply rooted assumptions conforming diverse safety culture maturity stages, varying from reactive to interdependent safety culture characteristics. This study draws on specific examples to describe safety conceptual preconditions to be addressed as a tool for risk assessment of socio-technical systems. Research results indicate features of the engineering design teams, conforming positive or negative safety culture profiles, either by being able to anticipate, address and solve major safety issues, or unable to prioritize safety at the conceptual phase of a project. This paper shows attributes that significantly affect teams’ perceptions for handling hazards and risk, in a broader sense, including industrial, health, and environment dimensions.
Effective Driver Coaching—The Next Best Practice for Measuring and Understanding Driving Behavior
Authors: Catten Corey , Harry Dave
Published: July 2010

The current best practice for driving scoring is a simple Red, Amber, and Green (RAG) report. Our industry has pioneered much progress in land transport safety using the RAG scoring system and driver monitors - it served us well. But the coaching that management can provide through the RAG scoring is limited to the parameters that make up the score. For a complete understanding of driver behavior, the scoring system should take into account more sources of data: speed with respect to the current speed limit (speed by street), speed with respect to the vehicle type (speed by truck), the frequency of activation of the OEM safety systems (ABS, Traction Control, Lane Departure Warning) if installed, fatigue warnings and fitness for duty, journey characteristics, weather and road hazards, and more. We submit it is possible to understand and effectively coach drivers on a much deeper level with about the same amount of time and effort used in the current RAG best practice.

In this paper, we propose a next-generation best practice scoring framework for understanding and coaching at-risk driving behavior. The goal of this new algorithm is to rank drivers "apples to apples" with respect to safety even though their driving world is an "apples to oranges" world. The best practice will adapt to various vehicle types and installed safety equipment such as ABS, traction control, and stability control. It will provide a framework wherein key driving performance metrics such as speed by street can be seamlessly substituted with less-effective top-speed-only metrics. It shall be independent of the manufacturer of the driver monitor. And most importantly, the framework shall provide managers and HSE professionals with more analytical insight.

We analyze real driving histories of oilfield service trucks to explore the strengths of the proposed algorithm. Examples include safe, at-risk, and risky driver histories with long and short driving hours logged on various equipment. By comparing and contrasting analysis with the RAG method, the reader will understand the insight gained into driving behavior and the subsequent opportunities to take driving coaching to the next level.
Health, Safety & Environment in the Russian Oilfield
Authors: Lawrie Graeme , Samoylova Olga
Published: July 2010

Oil and gas production in Russia has expanded dramatically over the last 10 years and continues to develop very quickly. The Russian market is dominated by large Russian operators, and a number of international operators and service companies are also present. Most of the oil and gas companies working in the region have only recently started to get engaged with global energy organizations such as the SPE, OGP, and IADC, and, as a result, little is known about the current state of health, safety and environment (HSE) management in the Russian oil and gas industry. This lack of communication and knowledge has led to some misconceptions among people and organizations without experience in the country.

This paper seeks to explain the current state of HSE in the Russian oil and gas sector; dispelling some common myths; and giving an insight into the tremendous challenges faced, some of which are quite unique to the country. The authors discuss the ways that HSE management in Russia is developing now, and share their opinions on how they expect it to develop over the next 10 years.

There is a widely-held perception, outside Russia, that there is no HSE "culture of compliance" in the country; however, the authors believe that this is not the case. This paper provides details of some highly prescriptive HSE legislation and explains that, contrary to popular belief, it is rigorously enforced by numerous regulatory agencies. The paper also describes the current shift from "rule" to "risk" based HSE management. The paper also addresses the attitude of a typical Russian worker to HSE in the field; the detrimental effects of the culture of alcohol, and the impact of low life expectancy amongst Russian workers. It shows, with some practical success stories from the region, how HSE efforts are delivering improvements in terms of risk management, training, and leadership development.