New center addresses global demand for risk-based asset management

Recognizing a need to mitigate the growing number of major incidents in the oil and gas industry, risk management consultancy Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has opened the DNV Global Risk Center. The Hyderabad, India-based center will employ 60 consultants with backgrounds in engineering, business administration, and environmental sciences with an aim to support the energy sector in India and beyond.

According to bp’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2008, India consumed 3.6% of the world’s primary energy (commercially traded fuels such as oil, gas, and coal) in 2007, ranking them fifth in the world in energy consumption. India’s demand is projected to keep increasing over the next 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) World Energy Outlook 2008. The IEA report postulates that China and India will account for more than half of incremental energy demand through 2030. According to DNV, this pace of growth has resulted in an increasing appreciation of risk mitigation and the need for high-level risk management advice in the Indian energy sector.

The risk center will support the Indian energy industry in several risk management areas, with primary focus on quantitative risk assessment, performance forecasting, and asset integrity management. DNV reports that the center is currently working on a key project with ONGC in the area of quantitative risk management.

The center will also support DNV’s risk management operations for the energy industry outside of India. Consultants are working on a risk assessment project for a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Europe and a risk-based inspection program for a major North American oil company. The center is also providing support to other DNV units in Norway and the US.

“By establishing this center we aim to conduct risk assessments more efficiently,” said DNV Global Risk Center Director Stephen Shaw. “We choose consultants with a strong background and with the proper values and mindset to work in DNV. Subsequently, they received one of the most comprehensive training sessions in DNV to date.”

The company states that all consultants at the new center have undergone thorough training programs in accordance with DNV’s global standards that cover the general principles of risk assessment, including the use of DNV’s specialist software and more standard introductory elements.

To learn more about DNV’s new center and its risk management consultancy services, visit www.dnv.com.

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