First Oil

Vol. 233 No. 10

“I know we are not in a position to preach about safety.”

– Richard Morrison, BP Vice President of Global Deepwater Response

I am, by nature, a clumsy person. I can stumble on a level floor. When we’re eating together, be aware of the potential for a glass spilling or fork flying. There’s hell to pay, when my regulatory enforcement authority (wife) discovers evidence of breakage—broken glass in a corner of the kitchen floor or a chip on a porcelain dish.

As such, I have some sympathy for companies trying to regain composure in the aftermath of an oil spill. BP Vice President Morrison was in just such a position at a plenary session on “Offshore operational safety and its impacts” on Sept. 20 at the 2012 Rio Oil & Gas Conference. Chaired by Petrobras E&P Director José Miranda Formigli, the panel included operating company representatives Helga Nes, HSE Vice President for Statoil; and John Hollowell, Executive Vice President of Shell Upstream Americas. Representing the regulators were James Watson, Director, U.S. Bureau of Safety and Enforcement (BSEE) and Raphael Naves Moura, Superintendent of Operational Safety and Environment for ANP, Brazil’s regulatory agency.

Each of the operator representatives explained their approach to safety, and what steps they are taking to improve compliance in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon incident and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The white elephant in the auditorium that no one talked about was Chevron, which suffered a 3,600-bbl spill in Brazilian waters at Frade field last November. Brazil’s Supreme Court has issued a ban on further drilling anywhere in the country by Chevron, and drilling contractor Transocean. Both ANP and Petrobras are appealing the court ruling.

BP’s Morrison said the company is conducting its third annual risk cycle since the Macondo incident. The largest operator in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has reorganized itself into functional rather than asset lines. As a critical component of this reorganization, BP has created a Safety & Operational Risk (S&OR) function, consisting of 300 expert team members, that is designed to work alongside business lines to provide expert scrutiny of safety and risk, with the authority to intervene and enforce corrective actions.

BP has established a Houston Global Wells Institute, to allow operator and contractor teams to use a well simulator to learn field risks and practice safe procedures.

Statoil’s Nes explained that the company’s safety philosophy, that “all accidents can be avoided through a 24/7 continuous improvement,” emerged after early accidents in the North Sea: Alexander L. Kielland (1980) and Piper Alpha (1988). Statoil is part of a Norwegian tripartite model that is anchored by companies, authorities and employees.

Shell’s Howell was proud to reveal that in producing 150 billion bbl from deepwater sectors throughout the world, the company has not incurred any serious accidents. Howell said Shell operates through an integrity leadership that is at the intersection of design, technical and operating integrity.

BSEE’s Watson said under a new banner of “safety at all levels, all tiers,” BSEE has finalized an enhanced Drilling Safety Rule and new standards for well control. Watson said that first audits are underway of the implementation of the Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS), under the Enhanced Workplace Safety Rule. Speaking of future plans, Watson said the agency is now working on SEMS II rules, next-generation BOPs, and lifecycle analysis of production safety systems, as well as updated policies on contractor compliance and oil spill response plans.

Seeing this energetic response to improving oilfield safety, I am inspired to seek a continuous improved solution for my clumsiness. Perhaps I can get funding for a Global Institute for Clumsiness Reduction—certainly before a Husband Monitoring System is in place.