Proactive Indicators of Risk in Remote Operations of Oil and Gas Fields

Abstract

Abstract Remote operations, remote support and use of new technology introduce new ways of operating oil and gas fields. These new practices are often called "field of the future" or "integrated operations" - IO. These new practices are being implemented on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, leading to increased hydrocarbon recovery and increased collaboration between onshore and offshore sites. IO is raising new challenges related to HSE (Health, Safety and Environment), but IO should not increase the risks of major accidents or increase the risks of HSE. We are suggesting a set of proactive indicators to ensure that risks are controlled when IO is implemented and operated. A proactive indicator is used as a measure of risk related to a causal factor, to be controlled in risk management. The indicators have been developed based on analysis of accidents, discussion of theory and collaboration with the oil and gas industry. Our suggested approach is to collaborate with stakeholders and agree on indicators to increase the understanding and focus of the risks among the stakeholders. The most important causal factors of incidents seem to be poor design and poor validation of equipment, poor risk analysis of critical operations and deviations from established procedures. A causal factor that is suggested to be important in remote operations is miscommunication between actors during critical operations. Several proactive indicators are suggested, among them the level of exploration of scenario analysis/safety cases during design and risk assessments/scenario analysis prior to operations. Risk perception among stakeholders involved in operations is a suggested indicator too. Important indicators in remote operations are suggested to be the assessment of shared communication and shared risk perceptions when critical tasks are distributed among different organizations and different places. To validate the indicators, we are correlating the indicators with actual HSE levels, safety culture and risk perceptions. We suggest exploring how shared risk perceptions can impact safety and resilience, when task are distributed between onshore and offshore.