Overview: Health, Safety and Environment (July 2007)

Abstract

In March, professionals from many countries gathered in Galveston, Texas, for the biennial SPE E&P Environmental and Safety Conference. Although this conference has included some safety papers in the past, this time safety was one of the featured themes. The industry's safety experts presented many excellent papers, several of which are featured here. Likewise, the conference included many fine papers on environmental topics. Each day, the media bring us stories about climate change. Most scientists now agree that the climate is getting warmer and that human activities, including combustion of fossil fuels, are contributing to the warming. Although the international community has not reached consensus on the causes of and the solutions to the warming trend, even some previously reluctant executives and politicians are joining the call for some type of action. The oil and gas community has contributed and will continue to contribute information and research on ways to mitigate the warming trend. Many good papers on carbon dioxide capture and storage were presented during the past year. The health and safety of oil industry workers remains a priority for industry managers. Even routine operations, such as driving trucks or unloading work-boats, pose risks that must be evaluated and addressed. One of the featured papers describes the important work of an industry task force in identifying and compiling recommended land-transportation practices to protect workers. During late 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita moved through the Gulf of Mexico, creating major disruptions of offshore and onshore activities in the area. Numerous platforms were damaged. The occurrence of two large and violent storms in a high-petroleum-activity area points out the risks of working in the offshore environment. Much of the damage has been repaired or removed. Several papers this year describe the devastation caused by the storms as well as the measures taken by the industry for coping with future storms. Health, Safety, and Environment additional reading available at the SPE eLibrary: www.spe.org. SPE 106827 "OGP Land-Transport-Safety Recommended Practice: An Industry Standard for Land-Transport Safety" by Derek Tate, SPE, Schlumberger SPE 106610 "Mercury-Removal System for Upstream Application: Experience in Treating Mercury From Raw Condensate" by Muhamad Rashid Sainal, Petronas Carigali, et al. SPE 106697 "Security Is Everybody's Business: Transforming Security Into a Core Business Practice in the HSE Model" by Stephen B. Simmons, ExxonMobil, et al. SPE 106913 "An Innovative Utilization of Drilling Wastes as Building Materials" by Ta-Lin Chen, National Cheng Kung University, et al.