Gulf oil companies pursue environment and safety drive

Citation

(2005), "Gulf oil companies pursue environment and safety drive", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 52 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2005.12852cab.010

Gulf oil companies pursue environment and safety drive

Gulf oil companies pursue environment and safety drive

Keywords: Oil industry, Persian Gulf States, Environmental health and safety

Oil companies across the Gulf bade farewell to 2004 and welcomed the new year with more programmes to ensure safe and secure surroundings as part of their stated commitment to the protection of environment in the long term.

The giant Saudi oil company Saudi Aramco, which manages the Kingdom's nearly 260 billion barrels of crude, said it had conducted a successful drill in the Port of Yanbu in early January to test safety at its industrial installations.

“All relevant government departments and industrial units operating in the city participated in the drill, which was designed to test the capability and preparedness of our units at that site and ensure all emergency plans are carried out properly”, Saudi Aramco said.

It said the drill was part of a large- scale programme to ensure safety and protect the environment at all its facilities throughout the Kingdom. “It is also aimed at ensuring all our units are well prepared to deal with any incident or emergency at any site.”

In a related report, the company said it had completed a project to upgrade safety systems at its Jeddah oil refinery within a long-term strategy aimed ensuring better environment, health and safety standards at its facilities through the Kingdom.

“The company is ahead of big challenges in line with its responsibility to ensure safe and secure energy supplies to the world in the long run... for this purpose, we are giving priority to ensuring safety and security at our installations”, said Saudi Aramco's President and Chief Executive Officer, Abdallah Saleh Jumah during a visit to the Jeddah refinery in mid January. In Oman, the state-run oil company reported a similar drill in December and said it was also intended to upgrade the capability of its units to deal with possible oil spills. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) said several government agencies, national and regional non- Governmental organisations and multiple private companies were summoned to action on 12 and 13 December for the exercise.

“The exercise was held as part of the joint commitment of both the Government of Oman and PDO to maintain the nation's emergency- response preparedness. The last such exercise took place four years ago”, PDO said.

The exercise, which tested the Omani Government National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), the PDO Contingency Plans and the Shell Group Crisis Plans, was based on a made-up scenario in which a sea-going tanker accidentally spills a substantial amount of crude oil into the coastal waters of Oman, making it what is termed a “Tier 3” emergency. PDO's emergency coordinator Ali Al Shanfari said, “The exercise was deliberately based on a worst-case scenario so that we could simultaneously test the links between the various public-affairs agencies, both within Oman as well as internationally with the Shell Group”.

“As a result of the exercise, the many parties that would be involved in an emergency of this nature have established and enhanced their relationships. This will greatly help during actual emergencies. They also learned some valuable lessons during the exercise, and they have already started implementing improvements to their emergency procedures.”

Oil companies in other Gulf states are expected to conduct emergency exercises, upgrade existing sytems, and devise new strategies this year within their annual health, safety and environment programmes.