Technical Agenda

Monday, 18 February , 0830-930

Session 1: Introduction/Opening/Keynote Address

1000-1200

Session 2: Learning from Incidents

Historically, the investigations of major accidents show that we do not as an industry learn from our industrial incidents. This session will discuss the reasons why the industry has repeat incidents, and how legislation is changing to make leaders responsible for these incidents. One key dilemma facing the industry is that the majority of investigation findings do not get fully implemented industry wide as incident findings demonstrate.

The intent of this session is, therefore, aimed to bring about a key discussion on how companies can better design themselves to manage major hazards; what were the real causes for recent industry events; and why do, in many cases, the lessons learnt from earlier incidents not reach a stage of sustained industry-wide implementation.

1300-1500

Session 3: Break-out Group 1

A facilitated team-orientated breakout session to identify common aspects with respect to the lessons learnt from previous incidents and generation of ideas and concepts for further evaluation during the workshop

1500-1700

Session 4: Social License to Operate

The playing field for new–and existing-upstream developments has changed forever. This has led to new sources of business risk emerging that demand fresh approaches to resolve.

These risks include:

• Significant erosion of trust
• Uncertain regulatory framework
• Diminished profit margins
• Incomplete understanding of non-technical risks
• Heightened stakeholder scrutiny in key areas of development
• Increased need to develop local partnerships and relationships to secure "License to Operate"

Additionally, having a strong technical culture tends to push project leaders to prioritise resolving technical challenges over "soft" sustainability issues. This causes them to hear the top leadership’s messages as "politically correct" but not affecting their project. Asset leader scorecards focus on short-term milestones—not the compromises or risks that their short-term approach may create for longer-term project success.

This session will explore social and regulatory changes and how companies are developing approaches to demonstrate to stakeholders that societal expectations and licenses to operate are being met.

1700-1800

Session 5: Poster Session

Tuesday, 19 February, 0830-1030

Session 6: Delivering a Safe Design

Fundamental to safe design is the integrated management of hazards and associated risks throughout the project phases. This aids to ensure engineers, designers and operators have the greatest opportunity to influence and steer the design. All projects go through a range of traditional phases from concept evaluation to detailed engineering and execution with often a number of different organisations executing the work under a range of contracting scenarios.

This session will cover:

• Early and continued alignment on project health, safety and environmental design objectives
• The human element
• What are the basic safety in design requirements every project should meet and how can the integrity of these design requirements be met through the range of project phases
• How do we avoid discipline silos and “contracted out risk management”
• Successful approaches for managing lessons learnt between project teams and the wider organisation

1030-1230

Session 7: Sustainable Design and Operations

The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental impact completely through skillful, sensitive design". Manifestations of sustainable design require planned reductions in non-renewable resources, minimization of environment impact, and relating people with the natural environment. Sustainable Design can shift behavior and create a dynamic balance between business drivers and society, intended to generate long-term relationships between user and object/service and finally to be respectful and mindful of the environmental and social differences. 

This session will explore a range of areas that affect our industry including:

• Understanding sustainability in design objectives and the associated design standards
• Tools and approaches to support early engineering opportunity knowledge in the design development where opportunities for introducing sustainable engineering solutions are at their greatest
• How do we tackle operational performance alongside carbon targets

1230-1430

Session 8: Break-out Group 2

A facilitated team-orientated breakout session to consider the range of approaches to embed safety and sustainability within the design of new facilities. Key topics for discussion would include what are the core elements of a successful execution strategy; the roles of the integrated execution team; what considerations and processes are required to demonstrate a consistent application of sustainability within a design.

Wednesday, 20 February, 0830-1030

Session 9: Maintenance and Life Extensions of Ageing Facilities

Mature fields are generally characterized by falling production rates and increasing unit production costs set against a background of infrastructure that is already operating way beyond its intended design life and, typically, may be required to operate for anything up to another 30 years. The asset life and extension issues for areas such as topsides, sub-sea structures and well assets are critical. Addressing these issues may not always be easy and requires a coherent strategy to ensure:

• Removal of redundant equipment
• Management of increased congestion of equipment from operational strategy changes (e.g. production platform to hub)
• Continued operation outside a defined equipment operating life envelope
• Reducing equipment reliability, particularly machines and rotating equipment
• Newly emerging corrosion/deterioration mechanisms through changes in process fluids, e.g. sand, H2S
• High cost, usually due to age related unreliability of key systems, such as fire mains and pumps
• Electrical power limitations are managed
• Compliance with current and future environmental legislation
• Upgrading Safety and Escape equipment and Active/Passive Fire Protection to meet latest standards

This session will explore the range of dimensions associated with managing aging assets through proactive approaches to understanding where and why deterioration is taking place and what is required to maintain equipment integrity to the end of field date.

1030-1230

Session 10: Decommissioning

The offshore oil and gas industry has been operating worldwide for over 30 years and different regions. Countries and states have had different approaches to understanding and managing the environmental impact of these operations based on their time of entry into the offshore industry. Catastrophic events have shaped legislation, enhanced public awareness, while technology, knowledge, and experience have all contributed to understanding what we know now. The removal of offshore platforms is governed by regulations at the international, regional and more increasingly, the national level, but a few major issues regarding decommissioning remain on how to manage risk, safety and environmental impacts.

The session will discuss opportunities in:

• Planning decommissioning early in the project lifecycle
• Health and safety challenges in "deconstructing" offshore
• Environmental, social and potential community health impacts
• Waste management
• Managing expectations such as employment to sustain existing oil and gas related jobs that will decline as oil declines

1330-1630

Session 11: Break-out Group 3

A facilitated team-orientated breakout session to understand late field life management aspects and what constitute the successful elements of a decommissioning strategy. Key focus topics would include risk factors, programme and economic uncertainty management.

1630-1730

Session 12: Summary & Wrap Up