Managing Well Integrity using Reliability Based Models

Imperial Users onl

Risk assessment for the installation and maintenance activities of a low-speed tidal energy converter

The study presented in this paper, is part of the Deep Green project, which includes the development of a power converter/device for employment in low-speed tidal currents. It mainly focuses on the initial steps to investigate the ways on how to minimize the risks during handling, operation and maintenance (O&M) activities of the full-scale device particularly in offshore operations. As a first tep, the full-scale device offshore installation and O&M tasks are considered. The overall risk analysis and decision making methodology is presented including the Hazard Identification (HAZID) approach which is complemented with a risk matrix for various consequence categories including personnel Safety (S), Environmental impact (E), Asset integrity (A) and Operation (O). In this way, all the major risks involved in the mentioned activities are identified and actions to prevent or mitigate them are presented. The results of the HAZID analysis are also demonstrated. Finally, the last section of this paper presents the discussion, conclusions and future actions for the above-mentioned activities regarding the full-scale device

Managing Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks: A Comparative Assessment of the Minerals Management Service and Other Agencies

This study compares and contrasts regulatory and related practices—in particular, regulatory decisionmaking, risk assessment and planning processes, inspection and compliance, and organization structure, budgets, and training—of the Minerals Management Service (MMS, now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, or BOEMRE) with those of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Comparing MMS practices with those of other federal agencies that also manage low-probability but high-consequence environmental risks provides a basis for identifying opportunities for enhancing regulatory capacity and safety performance in managing deepwater energy exploration and production. Our research finds important differences in processes for setting standards; peer review contribution to the rulemaking process; establishment of tolerable risk thresholds; and training of key staff. The paper concludes with several recommendations for how various EPA and FAA practices might be modified and used at BOEMRE to strengthen its regulatory and risk management processes.Minerals Management Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, risk management

Developing a Pilot Case and Modelling the Development of a Large European CO₂ Transport Infrastructure -The GATEWAY H2020 Project

The H2020 GATEWAY project aims to develop a comprehensive model Pilot Case which, intentionally, will pave the ground for CCS deployment in Europe. It will result from the assessment of, technical, commercial, judicial and societal issues related to a future CO2 transport infrastructure. The Pilot Case derived on this basis, will emphasize a gateway for CO2 transport in the North Sea Basin. Four potential pilot cases have been evaluated through a combination of techno-economic modelling of the individual cases and evaluation against more qualitative criteria. The chosen Pilot Case, Rotterdam Nucleus, will be refined and developed during the remaining period of the GATEWAY project. To maximise impact, the GATEWAY project adapts its work to lay the foundation for a future application to a European ‘Project of Common Interest’ (PCI). Continuous dialogue with the most relevant stakeholders is an important part of GATEWAY, as a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) H2020 project

The new EU offshore safety directive: A critical review and discussion in view of current practices and theories

Master's thesis in Risk managementThe review traces the development of EU law in the area of Offshore Safety, through the elaboration of the Directive at stake, where the EU authorities claim their ambition for preventing major accidents and limiting their consequences. The author highlights the practical questions that arise in this regard beyond the EU boundaries and suggests possible solutions

Department of Trade and Industry Energy Review Consultation 2006: Submission by Open University Energy & Environment Research Unit

The Open University Energy and Environment Research Unit has, since its foundation in 1986, focussed on a range of sustainable energy technologies on a variety of scales, from large to small, in the belief that a sustainable energy system will require contributions at all scales. So while we support, for example, the development of microgeneration and improvements in energy efficiency in buildings, we also believe that larger-scale projects, in particular offshore wind and city-wide combined heat and power (CHP), have a major role to play in a sustainable energy future. This submission is in two parts: Part One proposes a major expansion in the UK's offshore wind programme. Part Two proposes a major expansion in Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

The development of the Norwegian Petroleum Innovation System: A historical overview

This paper addresses the development of the Norwegian Petroleum Innovation System. The characteristics of the Norwegian Petroleum Innovation System were on the one hand the increasing ability to solve bottlenecks connected to production and operation on the Norwegian shelf, and on the other a gradual learning process which enabled a large portion of Norwegian participation in the petroleum business. While the initial phase of the petroleum development of Norway in the sixties was characterised by an absorptive capacity of receiving new technology, the building of Norwegian competence in the seventies and eighties was in certain respects directly shaped by public policy in order to participate. With the Condeep design it became possible to speak of an independent Norwegian petroleum industry. The development of Norwegian producer and supplier companies signified that petroleum activity in Norway was entering a new phase. In the R&D System of Norway petroleum education and research were introduced at several levels. Due to new cost efficient technologies introduced in the nineties, we may say that the adjustment was concluded by the beginning of 21st century. The Norwegian oil and gas actors perceived themselves ready to fully participate in the international system of energy producers.

Opportunities for Dutch Biorefineries

Deze Roadmap Bioraffinage beschrijft een aantal mogelijke routes naar de ontwikkeling en implementatie van een bioraffinage-gerelateerde Bio-based Economy in Nederland. De Roadmap combineert korte- en middellange termijn mogelijkheden (commerciële implementatie, demonstratie plants, pilot plants en gerelateerd toegepast onderzoek) met strategisch onderzoek voor de langere termijn. Tevens zijn vier z.g. Moonshots uitgewerkt, als voorziene bioraffinagestrategieën met een grote potentie voor de Nederlandse economi

Practical use of the cost-benefit analysis

Master's thesis in Risk managementThe petroleum industry is Norway’s most important trade, and has been an important contributor to the economic growth for the last 30 years. The industry has nonetheless also inflicted, and will continue to inflict the society with considerable consequences, affecting both humans and the environment. The cost-benefit analysis is a well known and widely used analysis in respect to risk-reduction. Its main purpose is to identify and quantify all the advantages and disadvantages from the different projects and to rank them according to their expected net present values. It is also a much disputed analysis, as some people find it unethical to transform every element of the analysis into a monetary value, including human life and environmental influence. What we will try to visualise, is how some companies in the petroleum industry uses the cost-benefit analysis in respect to risk reduction, and how it is carried out with regard to legislations and the trends in the risk level. A theoretical interpretation of the cost-benefit analysis, and other risk analysis that are used as quality assessment, will be given first, to show the composition of the analysis. Legislations and good offshore practice must be the underlying causes in every decision. Even though all the companies involved are international companies and therefore subject to both national and international legislations and demands, in this context the Norwegian legislations have been of importance. When including the development in the risk level, the most important factor was to find out whether the risk level might affect the valuations and implementation in the cost-benefit analysis. But it rather showed a mutual influence between the risk level and the cost-benefit analyses’ risk reducing measures. Even though the risk level affects the cost-benefit analysis, in the sense that there is still room for improvements, it is also visible that risk-reducing measures have had its effect on the risk level. There has been a visible reduction in accidents over the past few years, both in respect to personnel and to the environment

Carbon Capture; Transport and Storage in Europe: A Problematic Energy Bridge to Nowhere?

This paper is a follow up of the SECURE-project, financed by the European Commission to study “Security of Energy Considering its Uncertainties, Risks and Economic Implications”. It addresses the perspectives of, and the obstacles to a CCTS-roll out, as stipulated in some of the scenarios. Our main hypothesis is that given the substantial technical and institutional uncertainties, the lack of a clear political commitment, and the available alternatives of low-carbon technologies, CCTS is unlikely to play an important role in the future energy mix; it is even less likely to be an “energy bridge” into a low-carbon energy futureCarbon Capture, Transport, Storage