Empowering Australia in the global oil and gas standardisation initiative
Andrew Woodhams A C , Ted Fletcher B , Menno Weustink B and Miranda Taylor AA NERA, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
B Woodside Energy, 240 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: andrew.woodhams@tamconsult.com.au
The APPEA Journal 58(2) 655-659 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17151
Accepted: 6 April 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
The World Economic Forum has identified the oil and gas industry’s poor productivity performance as a significant barrier to the sanction of large capital projects. 75% of large exploration and production projects between 2010 and 2014 exceeded their budget by 50% on average and 50% of these projects exceeded schedule by almost 40%. A major cause of these poor productivity outcomes is the lack of standardisation. In Australia, the Productivity Commission raised similar concerns about Australian projects. In 2015, the government launched its competitiveness agenda that saw the formation of six industry growth centres, including National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) for oil and gas, coal and uranium.
In 2017, NERA, as part of the global standardisation initiative being pursued through the International Oil and Gas Producers Association, successfully delivered a project to elevate Australia to full participating member status of the International Standards Organisation’s Technical Committee for oil and gas, petrochemicals and energy. Australia’s participation is coordinated through Standards Australia’s committee, ME-092, that also oversees several working groups progressing specific initiatives to enhance Australia’s competitiveness.
This paper describes Australia’s position within the global oil and gas standardisation initiative, highlights the strategy being pursued to maximise productivity through the adoption of international standards and discusses areas being led by Australian initiatives as part of the international program. Information will be provided on how opportunities can be realised through this initiative and on the role of professionals in supporting Australia’s drive to build a regional oil and gas hub that will attract capital investment for decades to come.
Keywords: collaboration, digital technologies, hubs, industry growth centres, mirror committee, productivity, standardisation, tertiary service sector, trusted international standards.
Andrew Woodhams is an independent consultant with an extensive experience in the oil and gas industry. He has worked for a variety of companies including 17 years at BP in activities spanning the life cycle of oil and gas, from exploration to decommissioning. He has had an unusually broad exposure to the LNG value chain from wellhead to burner tip. His services are retained by NERA to lead the Standards for Australian Advantage projects. He graduated from Loughborough University with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemical Engineering and is a Fellow of the IChemE. He also serves as the Vice Chair of Kira, a charity for adults with intellectual disabilities. |
Ted Fletcher is the Quality Integration Manager at Woodside Energy and is a key contributor to the oil and gas standardisation initiative both in Australia, as part of the NERA project team and overseas, as part of various IOGP and International Standards Organisation working groups. He has worked in a wide range of quality and compliance levels for both contractor and operator organisations within projects and operations. He graduated from the University of New South Wales with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Applied Science Metallurgy and a Masters in Business and Technology. He is a Professional Engineering Member of the Institute of Engineers Australia. |
Menno Weustink is the Vice President Engineering at Woodside Energy. He has an extensive experience in the offshore industry over more than 20 years. He has worked regionally and internationally for several international offshore service providers. His engineering skills have been used in Business Development, Project Management, Operations and Offshore Installation roles. He is the Chair of the Standards Australia ME-092 committee that mirrors ISO TC-67, which caters for oil and gas, petrochemicsals and energy standards. He graduated from the Technical University of Delft, with a Masters of Science in Offshore Technology. |
Miranda Taylor is the Chief Executive Officer of National Energy Resources Australia. She has extensive experience in the formulation of strategic policy, risk management and stakeholder engagement. Her interest in transformative and disruptive thinking, ensures NERA plays a vital role in leading the future of the energy resources sector. Miranda championed the Standards for Australian Advantage project and continues to support its profile amongst key stakeholders. She graduated from the London School of Economics with an honours degree in international economics, history and politics and a post graduate degree in labour relations from London University. |
References
Commonwealth of Australia (2014). Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda, Section on Further Proposals, Proposal 13 Industry Growth Centres pp. 72–74. (Commonwealth of Australia). Available at: https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/industry_innovation_competitiveness_agenda.pdfMarcel, V., and Gómez Pensado, P. G. (2015). Industry Strategy Meeting Oil & Gas Background Paper, Section on Capital Project Complexity pp. 1–2. (World Economic Forum). Available at: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/IP/2015/EN/WEF_IP_OG_%20BackgroundPaper_ISM15.pdf
World Economic Forum (2015). Scaling Up Local Talent in Oil and Gas, Section on Capital Project Complexity Workstream. Available at: https://cn.weforum.org/projects/scaling-up-local-talent-in-oil-and-gas
