Atlantic offshore energy operators raising their EH&S game
by CM Staff
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers report outlines 13 near and long-term initiatives to improve environment, health and safety performance
N.L. offshore oil operators are looking to improve their environment, health and safety performance.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Energy companies operating offshore Newfoundland and Labrador facilities are looking to improve their environment, health and safety (EH&S) performance.
A new report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) features 13 initial near and long-term focus areas, developed in consultation with the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, governments, and local stakeholders.
The objective of “Collaborating for Safety and Sustainability: A Continuous Improvement Plan” is to enhance collaboration and communications with a focus on incident prevention, training and competency with the offshore workforce; spill response capability to minimize the impact of potential release on the environment; and to support efforts to reduce GHG emissions.
Initiatives include:
- Establishing a common language to manage risk.
- Improving understanding of the perception of safety culture.
- Sharing lessons learned among industry.
- Collaborating to identify opportunities for alignment and improvement.
- Enhancing training, learning and information sharing.
- Working with the fishing industry and other stakeholders.
- Sharing and adopting best practices.
- Evaluating options for additional simulation training to enhance learning.
- Conducting an assessment of spill response capabilities.
- Maping greenhouse gas emissions for producing assets.
- Working with government and regulators to enhance training for wildlife observers.
- Evaluating and adopting new leak detection and subsea monitoring technology.
- Identifying research and development opportunities.
“Canada’s standards for EH&S in the offshore region are among the most stringent in the world. Our members have developed comprehensive safety management systems to ensure they meet or exceed regulatory requirements,” said Paul Barnes, CAPP’s director of Atlantic Canada and Arctic, in a statement.
The area is believed to have 52 billion barrels of oil and 200 trillion cubic feet of gas under the seafloor, which will spawn a $4 billion race to find the next big energy project, reports the Chronicle Herald in Halifax. It notes several exploratory wells will be drilled this year, with up to a 100 expected over the decade.
