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Australian Energy Producers Journal Australian Energy Producers Journal Society
Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Montara: broader implications*

J. Cutler
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

NOPSA.

The APPEA Journal 51(2) 721-721 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ10101
Published: 2011

Abstract

After almost two years, the implications of the Montara incident and the more recent Macondo disaster are still evolving. Failure of safety critical barriers led to the Montara blowout and spill. Why did these barriers fail and what are the associated lessons for operators, regulators and governments? There are parallels with the Macondo Incident in the Gulf of Mexico and while many of the insights are particular to drilling, there are others that are applicable to other activities in the oil and gas industry. While the deepest impacts of the Macondo disaster are felt by the families and friends of those who were killed and injured, the broader implications affect the oil and gas industry itself, other industries that expect to co-exist with the petroleum industry, governments and communities, and all those—employees and investors—whose economic future is linked with the industry. Questions we should all be asking include:

  1. Is a particular operator competent enough to prevent problems? Can they afford to pay should things go wrong?

  2. Are today’s facilities being designed and built to maximise inherent safety? Do they automatically fail safe when things go wrong?

  3. Have we set up our regulators for success?

Jane Cutler was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) in September 2009. NOPSA is the national health and safety regulator for the Australian offshore petroleum industry.

Prior to this, she was a senior executive with Woodside, responsible for the proposed OceanWay LNG import facility in Los Angeles before locating to Perth to lead the Sunrise LNG Development. Previously, Jane has held chief executive positions in the financial services industry following a number of roles with BHP Petroleum in Australia and Vietnam. She commenced her career as a drilling engineer with Esso Australia.

Jane has a Bachelor of Engineering (Auckland), Master of Business Administration and Master of Environmental Studies.


References

US NOAA Fisheries Service (2011).

Cohen, M.A. (5-2010 updated 6-2010).

For example: UK House of Commons Energy & Climate Change Committee (14-12-2010).

Kletz, T., and Amyotte, P., 2010—Process Plants—A handbook for Inherently Safer Design, Second Edition. Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press.

Khan, F.I., and Vetich, B. (2004).