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

International standardisation driving global competitiveness and sustainability of the oil and gas and future energy industries

Matt Keys A C and Miranda Taylor B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Atkins, Perth, Australia.

B NERA, Kensington, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: Matt.Keys@atkinsglobal.com

The APPEA Journal 61(2) 408-411 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20156
Accepted: 25 March 2021   Published: 2 July 2021

Abstract

The World Economic Forum has identified that the oil and gas (O&G) industry must lead the process of its own transformation by innovation and multistakeholder collaboration. The Capital Project Complexity initiative is an industry-wide, noncompetitive collaboration on standardisation and use of procurement specifications. Australia is now a major contributor to this collaboration which has brought together all the major O&G operators through the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) network and the standardisation bodies including International Organization for Standardization (ISO), American Petroleum Institute Standards, European Committee for Standardization, Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization, Standardization Administration of China, Standards Australia (SA) and many more. The focus is on developing common international standards through an IOGP Standards-ISO/TC67 link and standardised equipment specifications linking to these standards through IOGP-JIP33. Australia contributes via SA’s mirror committee ME-92, which is now fully established with direct involvement in the ISO/TC67 9 subcommittee areas and 13 working groups covering 261 current and developing standards. In September 2020, the first of these standards, AS ISO 29001, was identically adopted as an Australian standard. With the Australian experts now ensuring ISO Standards will incorporate Australian industry expertise, knowledge and regulatory requirements where possible future revisions will enable them to be adopted as the next revision of the Australian standard. This industry-wide collaboration will ensure future project costs are optimised and safety enhanced through use of the global industry knowledge while also reducing the need to write local standards. This study describes Australia’s strategy being pursued to align with the global industry. It also provides information on how this network is supporting the development of knowledge transfer to the decommissioning and new energy industries that will form Australia’s future.

Keywords: collaboration, mirror committee, productivity, standardisation, international standards.

Dr Matt Keys is the Deputy Chairman of ME-92, Australia’s mirror committee to the International Standards Organisation Technical Committee TC67 which is responsible for all 261 standards specific to the oil and gas industry. Matt is also the Global Technical Director at Atkins in the Oil & Gas Division, Atkins support and manage a significant proportion of the worlds ageing fleet of offshore platforms. Matt has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in both brownfield and greenfield structural analysis, design and integrity management from conceptual through to detailed design, complex reassessments and overall integrity management while operating. Matt’s experience covers some of the oldest assets in the North Sea, Middle East, Australia and Gulf of Mexico to the newest floating facilities recently installed in Australian waters.

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 is graduated from the London School of Economics with an honours degree in international economics, history and politics and a postgraduate degree in labour relations from London University.