Current trends in industry safety performance: applying scrutiny to safety issues associated with ageing facilities
Derrick O’KeeffeNOPSEMA, Level 8, 58 Mounts Bay Road, Perth, WA 6001, Australia. Email: derrick.o’keeffe@nopsema.gov.au
The APPEA Journal 59(2) 671-673 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18257
Accepted: 11 April 2019 Published: 17 June 2019
Abstract
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) has had a direct role in highlighting safety concerns that relate to petroleum companies transferring their interests in late-life production to smaller companies. Existing projects in offshore Australia have generally been operated by medium to large companies. However, there is an emerging trend for companies to transfer their interests in late-life production titles to smaller companies with limited resources. On the basis of NOPSEMA’s experience, such smaller companies have limited means to deal with unexpected maintenance, decommissioning requirements and associated safety measures. This paper will explore the impacts of this trend on maintaining safe operations.
Keywords: asset integrity, decommissioning.
Derrick O’Keeffe is the Head of Division, Safety and Integrity at the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA). Derrick received an MBA from Cranfield University and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University in the UK. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Life Member and past President of the Petroleum Club of Western Australia. With 37 years of oil and gas industry experience in Australia, Iran, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Algeria, the US and the UK, Derrick brings a multi-faceted level of expertise, including Strategy, Business Development, Commercialisation, Operations Management, Governance and Control, Executive Crisis Management, Stakeholder Relations, Media Management, and, since 2016, Regulatory Management. Derrick possesses a comprehensive understanding of Australia’s objective-based regulatory regime, having worked for a diverse range of oil and gas companies in Australia. These include Murphy Oil (Country Manager), Strike Energy (Chief Operating Officer) and Woodside (Business Manager). Derrick’s experience includes building multi-cultural cross-E&P industry teams to develop and deliver growth opportunities in exploration, development and oil and gas production. His goal is to assist teams to achieve outcomes they had not thought possible. |
