Offshore Petroleum Facility Incidents Post Varanus Island, Montara, and Macondo: Have We Really Addressed the Root Cause?

This Article analyzes the role of offshore petroleum legislation in contributing to offshore facility integrity incidents in Australia’s offshore petroleum jurisdiction. It examines the regulatory framework that existed at the time of the Varanus Island, Montara, and Macondo facility incidents, determining that the regulatory regime contributed to each of these incidents. Assessing the response of the Commonwealth government to the regulatory framework existing at the time of the events, particularly the integration of well regulation as part of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority’s (“NOPSA”) functions and the establishment of a national offshore regulator, this Article determines that while the integration of well management into NOPSA’s functions has been a valuable and a significant improvement. There is still a likelihood that differing standards applied to the regulation of petroleum facilities (“Safety Case Regime”) and wells (“Good Oilfield Practice”), multiple regulators, and regulatory disjuncture may continue to contribute to facility incidents. This Article concludes that the establishment of the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Authority, the retainment of the Joint Authority, and the enhancement of NOPSA’s functions to include environmental management have created a regulatory framework that is complex, increasingly convoluted, and has not addressed the root cause of facility incidents in Australia’s offshore petroleum jurisdictions

Offshore Petroleum Facility Incidents Post Varanus Island, Montara, and Macondo: Have We Really Addressed the Root Cause?

This Article analyzes the role of offshore petroleum legislation in contributing to offshore facility integrity incidents in Australia’s offshore petroleum jurisdiction. It examines the regulatory framework that existed at the time of the Varanus Island, Montara, and Macondo facility incidents, determining that the regulatory regime contributed to each of these incidents. Assessing the response of the Commonwealth government to the regulatory framework existing at the time of the events, particularly the integration of well regulation as part of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority’s (“NOPSA”) functions and the establishment of a national offshore regulator, this Article determines that while the integration of well management into NOPSA’s functions has been a valuable and a significant improvement. There is still a likelihood that differing standards applied to the regulation of petroleum facilities (“Safety Case Regime”) and wells (“Good Oilfield Practice”), multiple regulators, and regulatory disjuncture may continue to contribute to facility incidents. This Article concludes that the establishment of the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Authority, the retainment of the Joint Authority, and the enhancement of NOPSA’s functions to include environmental management have created a regulatory framework that is complex, increasingly convoluted, and has not addressed the root cause of facility incidents in Australia’s offshore petroleum jurisdictions

A Regulatory Comparison of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure Regimes in the United States, Canada, and Australia

Numerous state, provincial, and federal governments in the United States, Canada, and Australia have created guidelines, legislation, and/or regulations (or are in the process of doing so) in response to public concerns about water contamination from hydraulic fracturing. This article will compare and analyze three national regimes in the leading states and provinces in which laws have been amended, proposed, or adopted to address public concerns about the chemicals and additives in hydraulic fracturing fluids used to produce unconventional hydrocarbons. New regulations, recent legislative amendments, and, in some cases, new statutes have been proposed or adopted in the past few years. Most of the state and provincial laws require public disclosure of some information about the contents of hydraulic fracturing fluids. At the same time, governments interested in attracting investment capital to develop their shale oil and gas resources recognize the importance of protecting the intellectual property rights (trade secrets) of those parties that have developed hydraulic fracturing fluids

Preceptor Coordinators: The Link Connecting Hospital Orientation and Unit Orientation

Orientation is a crucial time for newly hired nurses, both experienced and non-experienced, and this initial training period is a vital function for all healthcare organizations. Being a collaborative process that includes administrators, managers, preceptors, and orientees, formal orientation programs directly influence and are essential in improving staff retention, lowering turnover, increasing productivity and quality patient care, and improving staff morale and job satisfaction. This scholarly project offers a detailed plan for the development, implementation, and evaluation of the preceptor coordinator role, a department-level initiative that links hospital orientation to unit orientation; thus enhancing the overall orientation process

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The industrialization of ablation: a highly standardized and reproducible workflow for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation

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