Q&A: Tom Theriot and Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan

John Donnelly, JPT Editor jdonnelly@spe.org

Tom Theriot and Ali Rashid Al-Jarwan are Cochairpersons of SPE’s Eighth International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE). Theriot is Manager of Safety, Health, and Environment for ExxonMobil Production Co. in Houston. During his 34 year career, Theriot has held various engineering and management assignments in Exxon’s production operations in Texas, Louisiana, Alaska, and California. In his current position, he is responsible for management oversight of various safety, operations integrity, emergency response, environmental, and security programs in ExxonMobil's upstream business worldwide. Theriot has worked in the safety and environmental area since April 1996, and he currently serves as the upstream representative to the ExxonMobil Corp. Safety, Health, and Environment Network and is management sponsor of the Corporate Biodiversity Working Group. Theriot also serves on the Advisory Council for the Harte Research Inst. for Gulf of Mexico Studies and is President of The Park People, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of green space in Houston.

Al-Jarwan is Deputy General Manager of Zakum Development Co. (Zadco), a position he has held since June 2003, and has responsibility of the Upper Zakum Business Unit including field operations, field development, engineering, maintenance, planning, and integrity management. Al-Jarwan worked for Abu Dhabi Natl. Oil Co. during 1979–87 in different disciplines including drilling, production, reservoir engineering, planning, field development, and general management. He worked for Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. during 1987–2003 and has worked for Zadco since 2003. Previous positions held include Assistant General Manager, overseeing the production operations of the Zakum field, Umm Shaif field, and Das Island; Assistant General Manager, Technical, directing company activities in exploration, field development, engineering and construction, procurement, contracts, quality assurance, and HSE; Manager, Petroleum Development; and Head of Development Planning and Manager of Petroleum Development. Al-Jarwan is Director, Middle East Region, on the SPE Board of Directors. He is an SPE Distinguished Member; he received the Society’s Regional Service Award in 1992, and he chaired the SPE Abu Dhabi Section in 1985–86.

As program committee chairpersons for the Eighth International Conference on Health, Safety, and the Environment, can you offer some highlights of this year’s event?
Al-Jarwan: This conference will be one of the biggest events in the global oil and gas industry focusing on the current challenges and opportunities associated with HSE. The main objective of the conference is to share all best practices in our industry to support sustainability of HSE performance.
Theriot: Certainly the location in Abu Dhabi is a highlight in itself, as is the outstanding technical program, which has a global reach.

What were your objectives in putting together the technical program?
Theriot: One objective in putting together the technical program is to provide a high-quality program that will inform and motivate while covering a range of relevant and practical HSE-related topics. A second objective is to promote networking and interaction among the participants.

This is the eighth such conference. What is the most significant difference in how the oil and gas industry views HSE issues now compared to how it viewed them at the time of the first conference?
Al-Jarwan: During the last 10 years, the HSE performance of the oil and gas industry has been generally good, showing continuous improvement mainly because of the application of management systems, compliance with rules and regulations, and by implementing audits to find gaps for further improvements. To sustain HSE performance further, the drive should come from the entire workforce. A truly positive cultural change in behavior will be needed to sustain performance.
Theriot: One significant difference is the increased awareness by industry that strong HSE performance is essential to overall business success. Said differently, sustained business success starts with success in HSE, and it is this realization that has led to improved HSE management approaches across the industry. This realization also emphasizes the value to industry of sharing and collaboration, and the importance of global conferences such as this one.

How is this event different from other HSE events?
Theriot: The worldwide scope and participation, including a strong senior leadership presence from many companies and organizations, and the breadth of the technical program make this conference unique.
Al-Jarwan: This conference will capitalize on the central location of Abu Dhabi and the rich diversity of the oil and gas industry in the Middle East. The various technical and panel sessions will be diverse and cover the latest HSE success stories and challenges.

SPE’s Eighth International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment will be held 2–4 April in Abu Dhabi. This comprehensive conference will focus on the theme “Delivering Sustainable HSE Performance: Improvement Through Sharing.” Conference technical and panel sessions will examine HSE performance through the E&P life cycle from concession planning to field abandonment, and including seismic operations, drilling, design, construction, diving, transportation (air, water, land, pipeline), well treatment, production, maintenance, decommissioning, reclamation, and other topics. Discussion will include practices in both onshore and offshore environments and may range from tropical jungle to the Arctic, from residential areas to deep water.

Among numerous topics, technical sessions will cover environmental reporting and regulations, social responsibility, produced water and chemicals, greenhouse gases, management systems, safety leadership, occupational health management, oil spill monitoring and detection, security, biodiversity, risk assessment, waste and drill cuttings, training, and infectious diseases. For more information on the conference, please go to www.spe.org.

What is the next great stride the industry must make regarding HSE issues?
Theriot: The next great stride must be in improving execution. Numerous tools, practices, and systems are in place, and it is essential that all employees and contractors effectively execute in all phases of their activities to promote continuous HSE improvement industrywide.
Al-Jarwan: The oil and gas industry is truly on a long journey in both HSE and business improvement while meeting increasing challenges in E&P developments. But this journey is generating a wealth of experience. For example, during the last 10 years, quantified risk assessment and safety installation have improved to prevent major accidents.

HSE is an integral part of business performance drivers and excellent performance, and it extends beyond our sphere of operations to professional organizations, research institutions, government departments, and societies at large. Through collaboration, we can jointly contribute to the improvement of society. Over the next 25 years, meeting energy demand, ensuring sustainable development, and providing the fuel for economic growth will require a high level of responsibility, commitment, and collaboration of all involved players to achieve the next level of protection for people and the environment.

What is the biggest specific problem area for the industry in terms of HSE?
Theriot: I am not sure this qualifies as the biggest, but certainly a significant problem area is the ability of industry to demonstrate sustained improvement, particularly in eliminating low-frequency, but high-consequence, very serious incidents.

What is the greatest achievement the industry has made in HSE during the past decade?
Theriot: It is difficult to identify the greatest achievement, but certainly near the top of the list is the industry’s widespread application of a systems approach to managing HSE risks. The management systems approach brings structure and discipline to the complex challenges associated with HSE; it also promotes improvement in other aspects of the business, such as reliability and business controls.

What do you hope attendees will take away from this event?
Al-Jarwan: We hope this HSE conference will enhance the use of best practices and address solutions for the challenges ahead of us. To maximize the benefits from this conference, every participant attending should think of taking at least one new practice home that will improve his workplace and the people around him.
Theriot: I believe several takeaways are important. First, a renewed commitment to HSE excellence by all participants. Second, some good ideas for application back home. Third, a broader network of worldwide resources we each can call upon.

Some have remarked that lumping together health, safety, and environmental issues into one broad category dilutes the significance of each. What is your opinion?
Theriot: I think “lumping all HSE issues together” into one can be viewed positively. This tends to highlight the interrelationship between HSE management systems and emphasizes the importance of all to our overall success.
Al-Jarwan: The eighth HSE conference will discuss various aspects and issues of HSE, and I think lumping a lot of these HSE issues together is a strength if we think about the principles and the passion behind them—they are all centered around people’s behavior to improve working conditions and maximize business outputs.

How closely are the industry and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working together now? How would you characterize the relationship?
Theriot: It is difficult to generalize here. Certainly, a key is close collaboration using risk-based and science-based approaches, and there are numerous examples worldwide in which this collaborative approach has been successful.
Al-Jarwan: The oil and gas industry is highly driven by the relationship among many parties, including governments, national oil companies, international oil companies, contractors, service companies, suppliers, and engineering consultancies. The more all parties are aligned, the more opportunities there are to generate improved performance and add value in production, HSE, profitability, and other areas.

How should the industry be engaging the public, NGOs, and governments in the climate change debate?
Theriot: I will answer more broadly than just the climate change issue. Industry needs to engage the public, NGOs, and governments in a thoughtful way on all industry-related policy issues, relying on sound science arguments and promoting risk-based approaches, best practices, and application of technology and leading-edge research.

Has the recent strength in oil prices and recent forecasts of growing global hydrocarbon demand affected industry discussion or industry attitudes toward HSE issues? Should it?
Al-Jarwan: The recent strength in oil prices and demand has enhanced the attitude that HSE is good for both business and sustainability. Today’s conditions and growing world demand require faster field-development cycles, effective facilities expansion, and more drilling to increase production, and that calls for more HSE integration in all phases of planning, design, execution, and operations.
Theriot: The recent focus on our industry certainly reinforces the importance of operational excellence and flawless execution in all our business activities. Industry’s commitment to improved HSE performance should not be dependent on price fluctuations. Leadership should be unwavering and management activities and programs virtually unaffected as prices rise and fall.

How close is the industry to having one global standard for HSE, and how important is this?
Al-Jarwan: I think the speed of learning in our industry is acceptable, and you can notice a similarity of the different HSE management systems, ISO-standard applications, and the modern code of practices together with the competency standards being cultivated by our industry. All of this helps maximize the alignment in approaches within and outside the oil industry. Perhaps such a culture will invite higher collaborations to develop similar standards of a global nature.
Theriot: I am not convinced one global standard for HSE is the solution. Certainly, application of effective HSE management systems and globally accepted best practices and tools is critical across the industry. But consideration of regional or global standards must be thoroughly evaluated, applying risk-based principles and involving key stakeholders.