bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Designing the Ideal Offshore Platform Methane Mitigation Strategy
Authors: Bylin Carey , Schaffer Zachary , Goel Vivek , Robinson Donald , do N. Campos Alexandre , Borensztein Fernando
Published: July 2010

Description of the Proposed Paper:

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and the primary component of natural gas and minimizing methane emissions creates both environmental and commercial benefits. Offshore production platform air emissions have been studied and characterized in detail by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS)1, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Natural Gas STAR Program has gathered information on methane emission reduction technologies and practices applicable to these facilities. This paper analyzes and summarizes methane emission volumes and sources from offshore production platforms, outlines mitigation technologies and practices, and provides a methodology for conducting full cost-benefit economic analyses to prioritize mitigation actions to yield the maximum environmental benefits at the lowest cost. The information presented can help companies better understand emissions from their offshore facilities and provide guidance they can use to optimize their own operations.

Application:

Worldwide offshore oil and gas production operators can use this approach to improve their current methane emissions inventories and identify mitigation technologies and practices that could be used to reduce emissions at existing facilities or be considered in the design of new platforms as a way to minimize or prevent potential methane emissions.

Results, Observations, and Conclusions:

MMS provides a significant body of knowledge about overall operations and methane emissions from offshore oil and natural gas production platforms. New research and data gathering was utilized to develop a comprehensive analysis of methane emissions from individual platform operations. In doing so, this information was synthesized for the first time in a comprehensive way to identify mitigation technologies and practices that could be applied to the most significant emission sources. Marginal abatement cost curve analyses were then developed to prioritize mitigation actions. This analysis indicated that up to 85% of an individual platform's methane emissions can be reduced cost-effectively through replacement of centrifugal compressor wet seals with dry seals; routing vent sources such as storage tanks, dehydrators, and pig launcher to a vapor recovery system; and implementing a directed inspection and maintenance program to target fugitive emissions.

Significance of Subject Matter:

Optimizing platform design to reduce methane emissions contributes climate change benefits, given methane's role as a greenhouse gas, and also enhances operational safety on offshore platforms. These pillars of environmental and safety benefits, along with economic benefits of conserving and utilizing a valuable clean energy source, contribute to overarching principles of corporate social responsibility.
Identifying and Developing Local Capacity Building Initiatives – Best Practices in Education and Innovative Supplier Development
Authors: Bordmann Vincent , Obembe Olubunmi , Longuet Laurent
Published: July 2010

With Host Countries stepping up their demands and expectations in terms of local content, identifying and developing local capacity building initiatives becomes paramount for IOC/NOCs. This paper presents a process for identifying and developing local content initiatives, in order to achieve challenging local content development objectives and hence increase the acceptability of IOC/NOC operators.

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

In a competitive context, local content becomes an important - not to say essential - criterion in securing new permit awards or obtaining approval for oil & gas field development plans. It appears paramount to build up a strong industrial fabric and have qualified manpower and contractors. It is all the more important that after the appraisal-development phases, the operator then requires skilled local / national personnel to produce the oil and/or gas fields for a several decades.

This paper describes the process and illustrates it with case studies, i.e. best practices in identifying and developing local capacity building initiatives. These case studies mainly highlight education initiatives and innovative supplier development initiatives, the latter being suppliers of goods but also suppliers of highly technical services like front end engineering and design.

This paper is based on best practices applied in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility. Illustrative data include case studies and lessons learnt from local capacity building initiatives implemented in various countries, mainly on the African continent (Nigeria), in Asia (Indonesia) and also worldwide through a specific higher education initiative.

The main application of the information provided in this paper is to help IOC/NOC operators to build local content development initiatives, in both education and supplier development.
Leading Safely: Development Of A Safety Leadership Tool For Senior Managers
Authors: Roger I. , Flin R. , Mearns K. , Hetherington C.
Published: July 2010

Senior managers significantly influence organisational outcomes and play a pivotal role in shaping organisational culture. This research focuses on the mechanisms by which senior managers can effectively promote organisational safety, including a proactive safety culture. This paper, informed by research for a doctoral thesis sponsored by the Energy Institute, presents preliminary data on the background research for the development of a tool (i.e. questionnaire; non-technical skill taxonomy/ checklist) designed to help senior managers assess their safety leadership strengths and weaknesses. The development process is based on task-analysis methods, including a systematic literature review of safety leadership literature, as well as exploratory interviews with subject matter experts. The systematic literature review highlighted the importance of senior managers’ active involvement in safety activities, integrated approach to safety management, continuous and open communication with the workforce, consistent prioritisation of safety and consistent support for safety. Additionally a number of safety benefits are associated with senior managerial demonstration of high risk awareness, low fatalism, high safety priority, personal concern and transformational leadership.
The Impact of REACH on the E&P Industry: a Service Company's Perspective
Authors: Galvan Joanne , Smith Chioma
Published: July 2010

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of CHemicals) has a far reaching impact on all aspects of a major service company's business. Although the REACH regulation is primarily focused on HS&E issues, it also has a significant global industry influence on economic issues (pricing, sourcing, financial), research, IT and management systems. This paper presents a survey of organizations affected by REACH inside and outside the EU. It outlines implementation strategies, required resources and relationships with other registration schemes such as OCNS. The paper gives an insight into the REACH implementation challenges such as pre-registration/registration preparation work and the various steps taken to integrate the new regulation.

The paper presents the current status of industry progress and a view of the upcoming regulatory challenges associated with REACH. It can also be used by the regulatory authorities as a yardstick for assessment of the level of preparedness and impact of REACH regulations on our industry.

Statistical data is provided based on industry feedback and experiences of REACH implementation. The results show the impact of REACH not only from an EU perspective but also the effects on the global market. Of the companies surveyed, more than 75% have been significantly impacted by REACH and have taken proactive steps to fully integrate the requirements of the legislation into all aspects of their business.

This paper serves as an assessment of the degree of implementation of the REACH regulation and the subsequent effects on the E&P industry. Information is provided on the global industry trend towards introducing environmentally friendly while economically viable products and services.
Water Availability Study and Projection of Future Scenarios in the Reconcavo Norte and Inhambupe Basins (Bahia)
Authors: Peres Antonio Luiz , Bessa Eduardo Marinho , de Freitas Ana Luíza , Vaz Regina Célia , de Azevedo Caroline Todt
Published: July 2010

In the industrial segment worldwide, the oil industry is an intensive water user. Some Company Units develop their activities in regions where the water demand is progressively increasing, due to the economic and population growth. For this reason, there is a need to know the current situation of the surface and underground water availability in these regions, especially in those places where there is a high rate of water usage, and also know the support capacity of the water body for receiving and disposing of the effluents, and, from that, build future scenarios of the evolution of these parameters (demand and availability).

This study will technically support the Company to establish and/or update its corporate guidelines concerning the expansion of its activities and the rationalization of water use (surface and/or underground) in its operating units in the State of Bahia.

The scope of this study encompasses:

The river basins of Recôncavo Norte and Inhambupe for assessing surface waters and; The aquifers present in the sedimentary Basins of Recôncavo Norte for assessing underground waters.

The research and studies are carried out in three areas identified as the centres of Company’ activities in the State of Bahia, which are:

São Francisco do Conde, Candeias and Madre de Deus: where the Madre de Deus Waterway Terminal and the Landulpho Alves Refinery are located; Camaçari Petrochemical Centre: where the Nitrogen Fertilizer Factory of Bahia and Camaçari Fuel Distribution Base are located; Area of operation of the Operational Units of the State of Bahia, where Company’ Exploration and Production units are located.

The most important result of this study is the building of short, medium and long term scenarios (5, 10, 15 and 20 years) of the hydric availability for capture of water and disposal of effluents. These scenarios will be built taking into account federal, regional and local laws on the discharge of effluents and management of hydric resources, the population growth forecast, the socioeconomic situation of the surrounding population, the government plans for potential hydric resources, the criteria of the existing Basin committees and, in the absence of these, the criteria proposed by the hydric resources management government agencies.

This study has a special significance for two reasons:

Making a complete assessment of the current conditions of the surface and underground water availability in an integrated way, taking into account their interactions; Its conception being the result of the integrated action of three business areas operating in the region (Refining, Transport and E & P), with interest in the data to be obtained and the probable scenarios created to guide its water management programs and investment in new rational water usage technologies.
Application of Biodegradation Testing in Brazil
Authors: Kraus Leila A. , Rabke Stephen , Reynier Marcia V. , Cunha Priscilla M. , Euzébio Viviane L. , França Jose
Published: July 2010

Biodegradation has been recognized as an important element of natural attenuation of increased organic loading at the seafloor from non-aqueous drilling fluids (NAF) that are associated with drill cuttings discharge. While recognized as an important characteristic of advanced NAF design, measurement of biodegradation properties of base fluids used in NAF presents a technical and regulatory challenge as applied to certain environments. In order to meet this challenge, modification of a standardized anaerobic biodegradation test has been pursued in Brazil with the goal of developing an ecologically relevant and repeatable test that can differentiate between the various NAF technologies. This paper will review the progress to date in developing this biodegradation test for use in Brazil. In particular, the sediment, which is used as the bacteria inoculums, will be compared and contrasted with other natural sediments that have successfully been used in this type of test.
Learning's from Applying the API Process Safety Incidents (PSI) Metric to Upstream Operations
Authors: Kehn David , Wischmeier Ben
Published: July 2010

Catastrophic incidents in the oil and gas industry have the potential to result in serious injury or death to the workers, the public and/or harm to the environment. The desirability of "dual assurance" lagging and leading process safety metrics was strongly communicated in the BP US Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel ("Baker Panel")i and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board iirecommendations on the 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion. The objectives of industry metrics were to provide an indicator to monitor performance and to set process safety performance targets, drive continuous improvement, and provide a mechanism for useful industry benchmarking.

The significant industry guidance for process safety performance monitoring includes:

UK Health and Safety Executive: "Step-by-Step Guide to Developing Process Safety Performance Indicators, HSG254", Sudbury, Suffolk, UK, 2006 [Ref. iii] Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS): "Process Safety Leading and Lagging Metrics", American Institute of Chemical Engineers, New York, 2008 [Ref. iv] American Petroleum Institute: "API Guide to Report Process Safety Incidents, Version 1.2", Washington, D.C. 2008 [Ref. v] International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP): "Asset Integrity – the key to managing major incident risks", Report 415, London, UK, 2008 [Ref. vi]

In 2007, one company (the "Company") globally adopted a Loss Of Containment (LOC) metric and an enhanced vapor release metric titled Inadvertent Release of Hazardous Vapor/gas (IRHV) based upon the thresholds and definitions within API Guide [Ref. v]. API Guide [Ref. v] was primarily written to facilitate benchmarking of process safety performance among refineries and petrochemical plants.
HSE Management Tools for Contractors
Authors: Espinosa Beatriz Nassur , Azevedo Ricardo Santos , Turazzi Ernani , Glitz Alexandre Guilherme , Veloso Luiz Eduardo , de Lacerda Milton Carneiro , Bonaldo Nívea Cristina
Published: July 2010

An integrated energy company, which operates in Brazil and in 27 different countries, which produces 2.4 million boed and with 55800 employees depends upon contractors for a wide range of its activities. Successful completion of contractor work is highly conditioned to an integrated Environment Health and Safety (EHS) management. In 2001 the Company started reformulating its HSE Management System and set 15 Corporate Guidelines. One of these Guidelines is related to acquisition of services, which has a very important role for HSE performance, because of the large number of contractors. This guideline is subdivided into requirements that include HSE aspects in all stages of the contracting process, in a structured and integrated manner. These stages start with the specification of HSE requirements that count with the inclusion of the companies in the vendor list, depending on the risk involved in the scope to be executed, until the final evaluation of the contract.

The inclusion of new HSE requirements in its contracting process has contributed to the improvement of the quality of HSE management system and performance of Brazilian and International companies with which it deals. It is worth mentioning that the Company influences, direct or indirectly, about 30000 companies. Since 2001, five annual meetings involving the President, the Board of Directors and contracted companies’ leaders were held to spread HSE policies and guidelines and communicate the new requirements. Each annual meeting involved the participation of the leaders of the 500 main contractors.

With this process the Company expects to expand HSE value involving contractors; standardize relationship with contractors; improve HSE performance and reduce losses caused by incidents.

The workforce Lost Time Injuries Frequency in 2008 was 0.59 (per million hours worked), almost 5 times less than 2001 and below the industry average. The Fatal Accident Rate (per 100 million hours worked) was 6 times smaller in the same period. In the last 7 years, oil spills were substantially reduced reaching during this period a maximum of 530 m3, one of the lowest records of the oil industry.

The inclusion of the new requirements promoted the implementation of a structured HSE Management System by the contracted companies, resulting in a higher commitment to social and environmental responsibility and significant results related to accident prevention in these companies.
People Focused Safety: Implementing New Approaches in Russia - Lessons Learned
Authors: Samoylova O. , Gladysheva K. , Shishkoyedova N.
Published: July 2010

In the recent decades, the global exploration & production industry championed a persistent drive for an incident free working environment. A continued improvement commitment and efforts undertaken by the companies led to establishment of a comprehensive, well-structured suite of engineering controls, technological solutions, procedural guidelines and management systems intended for minimizing a risk of injury.

This systematic approach had a universally positive impact on the industry's safety performance indicators. However, with time it became commonly accepted that traditional risk management controls alone don't always work and that their effectiveness ultimately depends on the people who constantly make their own choices regarding what to do and how to behave. This is when the industry began to realize that a zero incident performance takes more than mechanically applying a management system – it requires the involvement of every individual employee, from top to bottom of the organization. In response to this, companies started to look for renewed ways for managing occupational hazards putting more focus on people, their attitude and behavior.

A relatively short history of the behavioral interventions is marked by a step change in safety performance. Companies employing culture enhancement concepts have demonstrated a sustained improvement trend secured by a proactive elimination of the at-risk behaviors. However, majority of the successful efforts in this area are confined to the Western world.

This paper talks about people focused safety being implemented by the oil operator in Russia's Western Siberia, the largest oil-producing region in the country. It discusses interim results and lessons learnt from our experience in creating a company that enables and encourages "right" HSE choices and safe behaviours at every company level. Authors hope that a real life local example will serve as a practical guide and information source for those companies working in the Russian Federation and worldwide that are now taking off on their journey towards a cultural evolution.
The Risk Of Introduction Of Alien Species At The Goliat Field In The Barents Sea And Risk Reducing Measures
Authors: Ulfsnes Amund , Dragsund Egil , Nissen-Lie Torild
Published: July 2010

The International convention for the control and management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments was adopted by IMO in 2004, with the main aim to reduce the probability of dispersion of hazardous non indigenous species. Implementation of ballast water treatment systems is mandatory for all international vessels at the latest by 2016. The Norwegian government decided on ratifying the ballast water convention in 2006.

As part of the field development at Goliat in the Barents Sea, a study was performed in 2008 (DNV, 2008) to assess the consequences of the convention and evaluate the risk of introduction of non indigenous species from ballast water and fouling with two alternative development concepts:

Offshore processing, storage and offloading of crude oil, where the oil is exported by tankers Offshore processing with export on-shore by pipelines, prior to shipment with tankers or Subsea production with transportation through pipelines to processing facilities on-shore, prior to shipment with tankers

The evaluation of the probability of introduction of non indigenous species was based on identification of relevant organisms’ dispersion success to the Goliat field depending on:

Ecology of relevant species Environmental conditions in the donor- and the recipient area, as well as inside the ballast tanks Physical properties in the recipient area Different treatment of ballast water

Alien species already established in the southern part of Norway, will most likely have a natural northward dispersion; however, a more rapid development is anticipated with increased traffic. The offshore concept has the lowest risk for introduction and establishment of alien species.

The paper describes or highlights:

consequences of the International convention for the control and management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments approach to evaluate the risk of introduction of alien species proposals to reduce the risk of introduction for the analysed concepts
Delivering Project Value through Effective Stakeholder Engagement
Authors: Serrano Patricia
Published: July 2010

This paper is based on the field and office work conducted by one Company's (the "Company's") employees as part of the implementation of the environmental, social, and health impact assessment process performed to execute a major project in Colombia.

The Company focused on stakeholder engagement. The effectiveness of stakeholder engagement can dramatically affect the success of the energy business.

The Company had a project in Northern Colombia, South America (the "Project"), where the country's largest indigenous group is also the landowner, (nearly 120, 000 non-Spanish speaking indigenous people). The Project went through a smooth and concurrent stakeholder consultation process. This was crucial to the Company receiving the required environmental permit on schedule and to establishing the foundation of a constructive relationship with all stakeholders.

A thorough understanding of the Wayuu culture was developed by National authorities, consultants, and Project staff. This relationship, along with a close follow-up on the permitting process and the implementation of the ¨Environmental Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) were key for the Project success.

Results, Observations, and Conclusions:

Best practices in community engagement are evolving and improving as new opportunities arise; the impact of the specific stakeholder relationship practices discussed above will be evaluated.

Significance of the subject matter:

As a direct result of the strategy used the Company's Health, Environment, and Safety (HES) and Policy, Government, and Public (PGPA) groups and to improved stakeholder relationships, the Company timely obtained the required permits and authorizations which led to a smooth project execution.
Catch me If you Can - Assuring Health Capability
Authors: Minshell Caroline
Published: July 2010

INTRODUCTION

"The right person in the right place doing the right job"

Managers selecting health personnel for projects and operations are often not aware of the capability required for each role or the roles required, with the expectation that health professionals are already trained and therefore capable. However, training does not always equate to safe and competent practice and standards differ across the World. To address health capability, BP's health function developed a project to assure capability globally within BP.

THE PROJECT

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PLAN

Capable health professionals are vital to a company's performance and reputation. Utilising many years of professional experience within and outside the organisation, tools were developed to define and identify gaps in capability and resourcing globally and a plan formulated to address any gaps.

HR and organisational capability functions and business segment leads were fully involved in the process and endorsed its application.

The plan now is to continue to assure competent and safe practice utilising the role profiles, competency online tool and functional mentors and provide global L&D opportunities to address any competency gaps.
Peoples in Voluntary Isolation, Hydrocarbon Exploration and Recommended Practices
Authors: Benalcazar Fernando L. , Ayarza Peter W. , Thurber Mark W.
Published: July 2010

Petroleum companies (Operators) are challenged by the potential presence of Peoples in Voluntary Isolation (PVIs) within remote petroleum concessions. Operators must evaluate the feasibility of conducting seismic exploration within pristine areas where PVIs could exist. One example is the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador, home to indigenous peoples, including a few tribal groups in voluntary isolation. The Park permits multiple uses, including biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of rainforest products, ecotourism, petroleum extraction, and a No-Go-Zone for the protection of PVIs. In a recent case, an Operator's concession overlapped 50% of a proposed No-Go-Zone detailed in a 1999 government decree. The conflicting uses had not been clearly delineated spatially or with a detailed management plan when the Operator acquired petroleum concessions in 2003. The Operator proactively supported government authorities in delineating the No-Go-Zone and raised awareness of the PVI issue in academic forums, workshops and in the national media, with a full understanding that a portion of their concession would be off limits to exploration. An internal company policy was established to avoid unintended contact with PVIs, even at the cost of restricting exploration activities. As a consequence, these No-Go-Zones were formally declared in an agreement among relevant Ministries in 2008. A mandatory code of conduct was established for areas adjacent to the NoGoZone to minimize exposure to PVIs. Working with the Operator, Walsh Environmental conducted a baseline study of a proposed exploration area adjacent to the NoGoZone. Historical accounts of contacts or sightings of PVIs, high resolution satellite imagery, helicopter over-flights, interviews with Waorani hunters and scouting trips were used to define probable areas of PVI use. Two seismic programs adjacent to NoGoZones were rejected in the impact assessment process because they intersected with the use areas of PVIs. Guidelines entitled "PVIs: Practice Guide for Working in Sensitive Areas" established practices for an unintended encounter with PVIs. The Operator defined a process for evaluating the PVI issue in a transparent manner with government officials and stakeholders. They accepted the operational and economic impact of not proceeding with exploration in portions of the concession to protect the PVIs.
Health Impact Assessment (HIA): The Value of HIA in Integrated Environment, Social and Health Impact Assessments
Authors: Frangos Stephen , Barron Tania , Dea Christopher
Published: July 2010

Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessments (ESHIA) seek to identify and assess potential project impacts in a formal and structured manner. The ESHIA process not only helps to meet regulatory requirements, it also helps manage risk and increase transparency in the development of new projects for the local community, which can in the community and can be inbe integral to the success of major capital projects. Community engagement (CE) is essential to the ESHIA process, particularly Social Impact Assessment (SIA), as it allows potentially affected community members to participate and address local concerns, instead of relying solely on experts’ views. By engaging key stakeholders, CE can help better identify and support the social and economic interests well-being of communities where we operate, while supporting local business needs. Adequately mapping and linking relationships between the environmental, social and health components is necessary to identify important potential impacts that may be missed when these components are assessed in isolation. In this respect, the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) plays a unique role in the integration of environmental, social and health impact assessments –which add value not only for communities but companies as well.. Integration of ‘public health’ is the last component necessary to comprehensively assess potential impacts from major capital projects. This paper discusses: 1) the societal and business value of integrating ‘public health’ into the impact assessment process; 2) the components of an integrated ESHIA and the role HIA plays within the process; 3) the rationale for conducting integrated ESHIAs; and 4) how ESHIA can help companies fulfill their corporate level social responsibility commitments. To illustrate the importance of using an integrated approach and the limitations of using an isolated approach, we provide specific examples and present two original case studies of the integrated applications of ESHIA and HIA impact assessments. The application of the information provided in this paper will be of broad interest to companies and impact assessment practitioners involved in the development and assessment of Greenfield projects and enhancement of existing operations where there are potential environmental, social and health impacts.
Using Long Term Disability Data to Improve Worker Health and Disability Accommodation Efforts
Authors: Hall Cynthia , Buford Deena
Published: July 2010

An aging workforce combined with the rapid rise of chronic health conditions has had a negative impact on workplace productivity and contributed to rising long-term disability rates. Because long-term disability often heralds the presence of health impairments that cannot be accommodated easily in today's downsized work environments, increased long-term disability rates rob a company of experienced employees, the most valuable asset. Therefore, it is important for companies to understand the health status of their employee population for the purpose of providing programs that will better address early detection, treatment, and prevention of chronic disease. This retrospective study reviews employees in one major U. S. petrochemical company and the types of conditions driving long-term disability rates. Opportunities such as vocational rehabilitation, disease management programs, and the role of the corporate medical department are discussed. Utilization of aggregate data on health conditions, combined with early intervention, and a supportive corporate environment may aid in effective management of some of these cases. Companies should adopt a more proactive approach to health by actively monitoring and promoting the health of their employees in a variety of ways, including the collection of data describing long-term disability drivers. Information development in this area can be used to design benefit strategies as well as return to work and on-site health promotion programs. Additionally, understanding common causes of disability can help occupational health practitioners retain staff trained to provide guidance for healthcare services to this population. Review of long-term disability data is critical in understanding the continuum of conditions that result in permanently diminished occupational capabilities. Early identification of the causes of disability may aid in the development of proactive programs and may stimulate workplace accommodation strategies.
The Environmental Roadmap: A Management Tool to Address Critical Project Environmental Management Issues
Authors: Kolesnikov Eugene , Huber Erik , Geyer Thorsten , Ford Susan , Putov Victor
Published: July 2010

Many decisions of critical importance to project success are taken at an early project stage. These decisions are increasingly expensive to reverse as the project matures. Identifying critical environmental management issues and incorporating them into the strategic decision making process at this stage can greatly benefit projects executed in a particularly sensitive natural, social, regulatory and political environment. Early Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) may be undertaken to provide input into this process. However, ESIA requires substantial input data that may not be available at this stage. Alternatively, a simple identification of key environmental and social issues may be conducted using available information. Although beneficial, these traditional methodologies cannot address the full range of critical environmental management issues. The Environmental Roadmap methodology and tool has been developed to overcome these limitations.

The Environmental Roadmap combines critical issue identification, decision support analysis, and integrated project planning into a single decision support package for the project management team. The criticality of an environmental management issue is determined by its potential to drive project development decisions. Decision support analysis includes, inter alia, evaluation of main project options in terms of environmental and social sensitivities, effects on schedule and cost, and impact on stakeholder relationships. Integrated project planning is conducted to map key environmental management activities and deliverables as a single interrelated process flow that includes management of regulatory approvals, lender interface, public consultation and stakeholder engagement, engineering and project execution interface, environmental risk management, and review and assurance processes.

The Environmental Roadmap methodology and tool has been successfully applied during an early stage of an oil development project offshore Sakhalin Island, Russia.
Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (Tenorm) - How Much Do We Really Know?
Authors: Barclay Bill , Zamfir Sorin
Published: July 2010

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), has been in existence since the Big Bang. With industrial practices involving natural resources, this material can also be classified in its technically enhanced form (TENORM). Much has been documented and published on this subject; however, within our industry there is a need to better educate our collegues on the understanding of what TENORM is, how it should be handled, who should be responsible for it, what precautions are required, and the local, national, and international regulatory and safe-handling information. The issues related to TENORM are extremely relevant to numerous sectors of the oil and gas industry, including the area of electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). ESPs can become contaminated by TENORM and may then present exposure risks to personnel and equipment. Thus, those working with ESPs must understand the risks, safety limits, contamination prevention, effects on equipment, decontamination, disposal methods, and the legalities involved. The information included in this paper is conveyed in such a manner that it can be disseminated to the appropriate workforce.

Naturally occurring radioactive material NORM or, as it is sometimes referred to, Low Specific Activity (LSA) material, is everywhere and as the earth is a radioactive environment each and every one of us is exposed to it every day. In fact, it has been around since the "Big Bang" and we continue to be exposed to it both in terms of our natural environment and the cosmic radiation coming from space. Scientists estimate that around 100,000 cosmic ray neutrons and 400,000 secondary cosmic rays penetrate our bodies every hour. Additionally, around 200,000,000 gamma rays which are emitted from the ground also pass through our bodies every hour. It is also estimated that we breathe 30,000 atoms of radioactive elements (Radon, Polonium, Bismuth and Lead) each hour and within our bodies about 15,000,000 radioactive Potassium 40 atoms disintegrate every hour.

Living systems have adapted to these levels of radiation and radioactivity and humans apparently suffer no ill effect from this. The levels vary significantly across different regions of the earth and there is no correlation between these variations and the incidence of radiation-induced illness. However, some industrial practices that involve natural resources concentrate these radionuclides to a level that has the potential to result in risk to humans and the environment, if they are not controlled properly.
Mapping of Work Situations in Order to Improve Working Conditions in Offshore Projects
Authors: Silva G. , Duarte F. , Garotti L.
Published: July 2010

This paper presents a work situations mapping of the production and maintenance teams of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) with transformation potential in future projects. The mapping presented herein was based on the operation and maintenance teams’ experience of an FPSO operating in the Campos Basin. This platform was visited ten times during two years of work period. The methodology used consisted in following-up the work activity, followed by interviews and verbalizations with the operators. The objective was to understand the transformation demands from the user's perspective, by following up on the main maneuvers carried out on different equipment and productive subsystems.

The analysis of the work evidenced characteristics that should be kept and others that can be changed in future projects, with the objective of increasing the operation reliability and reduce work demands and effort to execute some operations.

Particularly, ultra deep waters projects, located far away from the shore, with inherent logistics difficulties and high operation cost, will demand considerable innovation efforts to withstand the characteristics of new production regions such as the Pre-Salt. This innovation should happen on solid basis and effectively considering the needs of future operation and maintenance teams. So, this research tried to rescue experiences in the recent past to improve work conditions in the new platforms.

In order to support designers of pipelines area, among others, the change demands were identified from the following work characteristics: ■Physical load (efforts, postures, access difficulties);■Potentiality of reducing physical effort and even the number of operators involved in the task (operation facility);■Importance of the activity for the operation reliability and the platform functioning.

It is important to mention that the physical load (particularly related to low-back pain and tendonitis) is identified as the main cause of workers’ absenteeism on oil platforms. The manual operations performed under temporal pressure and conditions that increase physical effort remain high even in automated plants.
Toxicological Studies from Brazilian Asphalt Fumes
Authors: Cravo M. C. , Leite L. F. , Martins A. T. , Monteiro R. J. , Azevedo R. A. , Bohrer D. , Nascimento P.
Published: July 2010

The potential carcinogenicity of bitumen has been attributed to Polycyclic Aromatics Hydrocarbons (PAH) presents in its composition. Depending on the type of the asphalt and its laying temperature (between 110°C and 165°C), different quantities of various PAH compounds can be found in fumes of asphalt and can be taken up by inhalation. Moreover, depending on the viscosity of the product, PAH also can be taken up by dermal absorption. Considering the chemistry of asphalt fumes is very complex and varies according to the source of the crude oil, it is necessary to conduct a specific study about the toxicological potential from Brazilian bitumen fumes. This paper presents the first step in the research that we are carrying out to evaluate the Brazilian asphalt fumes. In this work there are two fundamental goals: the first one is to develop a device, representative of the typical working conditions, that includes to heat up the bitumen samples at different temperatures, generate fumes and catch them in a adsorbing tube (for the fumes) and in a filter (for the particulate matter), just in the same way that is used for monitoring the workers in the breathing. The second goal is to analyze the material and identify the presence and the quantity of the PAH by a liquid chromatograph (HPLC). It is known that the fumes are a mixture of thousands of organics compounds
Challenges of Three-sector Partnerships for Social Development – An Experience in Campos Basin
Authors: Borges Nara
Published: July 2010

This paper aims to provide an overview of leadership aspects needed in developing tri-sector partnerships and therefore, achieving social performance goals of managing social risks that may arise from operations, increase ability to undertake dialogue and promote social initiatives strategically.

This paper aims at providing lessons learnt from an extensive capacity building programme implemented to understand community's priorities and empowering them to identify solutions and design projects to address their concerns. It will show how community's members were able to develop strategic partnerships to contribute to local sustainable development and what were the main challenges faced by the company.
News Techniques for Acquiring Mangrove Topography and Tidal Flooding Information
Authors: Figueiredo Alberto G. , Abuchacra Rodrigo C. , Falheiro Paula Ferreira , da Silva Fabiano Tavares , Vianna Paulo José , Pacheco Carlos Eduardo
Published: July 2010

Paper is based on field data gathered in mangrove areas crossed by hydrocarbon pipe lines or nearby construction sites. A technique was developed in order to observe the mangrove detailed topography in association with tide flooding regime to be used in environmental impact assessment.

Mangrove areas are important for fauna procreation and it is classified as very sensitive to oil spill and nearby constructions. In order to obtain construction licenses builders need to develop environmental studies to establish background conditions, and foresee possible effects of environmental impacts

With this new technique it is possible to obtain mangrove topography and tide flooding data as for example the rate of tide invasion, tides heights inside the mangrove and for how long it stays flooded. These data are of fundamental importance to understand the mangrove tree species distribution in case of reforestation of degraded areas, but also for emergency actions. The fauna distribution is also controlled by tide range.

The technique uses a DGPS positioning system, a total station, pressure sensor loggers and water traps. The best period for applying the technique is during spring tides when tides reach the largest amplitude.

The technique has being proved useful for mapping two oil spill areas being under reforestation and a construction site area nearby a mangrove compartment.
A Case Study: SA-AS (Stakeholder Analysis Application Software) - A New Tool for Faster and Continuous Stakeholder Analysis
Authors: Neto A. S. , Gerheim A. C. , Penhalber E. , Almeida M. N. , Motta E.
Published: July 2010

SA-AS (Stakeholder Analysis - Application Software) aims at supporting decision making regarding to relations with stakeholders by supporting the structured database and insights obtained on day-by-day of the organization's relationship with them. Information is parameterized according to the needs of each social reality. The user can process the results; interact with the data in different formats in a way to analyze the stakeholders according to region, group, social profile, organizations, and leaders, among others.

The main innovation is the ability of managers to be aware of the quality and level of the company's relationship with each party individually and periodically as information is released in the system by the field teams. The application can be hosted on a server that allows on line access from any location with a computer that bears the system installed and broadband Internet. It is flexible and easy to handle, and it demands neither long hours of training nor expertise.
From TB to an Influenza H1N1: Is Your Company Ready? Infectious Diseases in the Workplace: Health Incident Management Plans
Authors: Druckman Myles
Published: July 2010

The rise of the H1N1 influenza virus to pandemic status in 2009 highlighted the need for companies to address not only this issue, but to systematically address other potential health threats that may affect employee health and thus impact business operations and productivity. While influenza pandemic may be considered one of the most potentially impactful health incidents that may afflict the personnel of an organization, other infectious diseases can significantly disrupt business activities leading to major financial and reputational losses.

Polling of 250 major US based corporations revealed that over 40% had described a workplace infectious disease incident that significantly affected business operations. Data regarding infectious disease outbreaks in the workplace are scarce and corporations are typically uninterested in documenting such cases in a public forum. Regardless, the issue of health incidents continues to be very relevant, and is gaining in significance as corporations work in more remote and medically underserviced locations where outbreaks may be more common and their management more challenging. Such incidents are also occurring more commonly in developed nations too, as global workforces merge, with more employees from developing countries regularly working and traveling abroad. As employees move so will infectious diseases, including illnesses rarely seen today in developed societies.

In this paper a number of examples of corporate infectious disease incidents will be presented as well as specific lessons learned. A review of the evolution of corporate pandemic planning will be reviewed, along with some corporate best practices observed. Consistent among corporate best practices in health incident planning and response include a systematic process for global health risk assessment, proactive planning of anticipated and potential health incidents, well oriented and educated management teams, pre-arranged emergency responders and providers, and strong internal and external integrated communication processes.
Developing Environmentally Compliant Materials for Cementing and Stimulation Operations
Authors: Gomez Julio
Published: July 2010

Several offshore oil and gas well drilling operations involve discharging fluids to the sea as part of normal operations. This can have a potential environmental impact on marine and aquatic ecosystems, depending on the characteristics of the components of these discharges.

Offshore drilling operations are carried out in many regions, worldwide, and different governments have enacted environmental regulations and requirements to control potential marine pollution. In addition, most of the companies that operate in these environments have their own internal environmental policies. All of those requirements must be met during offshore operations.

However, some chemicals traditionally used in the onshore operations pose risks in the marine environment. Therefore, as more environmentally sensitive operations arise (e.g. deepwater cementing, where the tophole cement returns are circulated to the sea), environmentally friendly alternative chemical products are being developed to replace those hazardous chemicals. The challenge now is to develop environmentally friendly materials that do not sacrifice operational performance or significantly impact well economics.

This paper analyzes materials developed for cementing and stimulation operations, comparing their environmental performance with the different environmental regulations requirements and considering their operational performance with traditional chemicals that pose more risks to marine environments.