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2010 conference
Offshore Safety: Where do we go from here?

Invited Speakers

Peter Bridle Director of Health, Safety, Environment & Quality Noble Drilling Services Inc. Peter Bridle serves as Director of Health, Safety, Environment & Quality, Noble Drilling Services Inc., a position he has held since August 2005. In this capacity, Bridle manages the Noble’s world wide Health, Safety, Environment and Quality program, with oversight responsibility for both rig and shore-based operations involving more than 6,000 employees serving on the Company’s 69 drilling units.  Additionally, Bridle is responsible for the creation of the Company’s world wide safety plan, a unifying document designed to align and define safety goals across the enterprise. Peter’s involvement in the offshore industry (both academically and professionally) spans more than two decades and includes prior experience at Ensco, Todco, Shell, Halliburton and Schlumberger.  Bridle holds a Bachelors of Engineering Technology degree and has published a number of papers, including “Seeing the Woods for the Trees” published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 2004.

Michael R. Bromwich Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Michael R. Bromwich was sworn in as Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement on June 21, 2010. Mr. Bromwich has a long history of government service. He was Inspector General of the Department of Justice from 1994 to 1999 and, prior to that, served as a federal prosecutor and an Associate Counsel in the Office of the Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra. Before his appointment as Director of BOEMRE, Mr. Bromwich was a litigation partner in the Washington, DC and New York offices of Fried, Frank Harris, Shriver and Jacobson, LLP, where he headed the firm's Internal Investigations, Compliance and Monitoring practice group. Mr. Bromwich received his law degree from the Harvard Law School in 1980 and a master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government the same year. He received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 1976. Mr. Bromwich is admitted to the District of Columbia and New York Bars.

Jane Cutler Jane Cutler was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) in September 2009. NOPSA is the national health and safety regulator for the Australian offshore petroleum industry. Prior to this, she was a senior executive with Woodside, responsible for the proposed OceanWay LNG import facility in Los Angeles before locating to Perth to lead the Sunrise LNG Development. Previously, Jane has held chief executive positions in the financial services industry following a number of roles with BHP Petroleum in Australia and Vietnam. She commenced her career as a drilling engineer with Esso Australia.   Jane has a Bachelor of Engineering (Auckland), Master of Business Administration, and Master of Environmental Studies.

Elmer P. Danenberger III Elmer (Bud) Danenberger is currently a consultant specializing in offshore safety, operations, pollution prevention, and regulatory issues. After a 38-year career, he retired from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s offshore oil and gas program in January 2010. During his career, he served as a staff engineer in the Gulf of Mexico regional office, Chief of the Technical Advisory Section at the headquarters office of the U.S. Geological Survey, District Supervisor for Minerals Management Service (MMS) field offices in Hyannis, Massachusetts and Santa Maria, California, and Chief of the Engineering and Operations Division at MMS Headquarters. For the last five years of his career, he served as Chief, Offshore Regulatory Programs, with responsibilitiesfor safety and pollution-prevention research, accident investigations, regulations and standards, and inspection and enforcement programs. Mr. Danenberger earned a B.S. degree in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering and a Masters degree in Environmental Pollution Control, both from Pennsylvania State University.

J. W. (Jan) de Jong Inspector-General of Mines of State Supervision in the Netherlands. State Supervision of Mines (SSM) is a supervising agency working for 3 ministries i.e. Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and Ministry of Environmental Affairs. It ensures that the extraction of natural resources in the Netherlands is carried out in a socially responsible way. Supervision of oil, gas, salt and marl mining in the Netherlands and Dutch Continental Shelf covers safety, health, environmental matters, subsidence, earth tremors and the effective production of minerals. SSM is member of the IRF and NSOAF. Mr. de Jong received a Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering and specialized in energy-technology from Technical College. He also studied at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh where he earned a Masters degree in petroleum engineering. His thesis subject was the cleaning of cuttings from North Sea drilling rigs. Mr. de Jong worked from 1975-1987 for Shell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij (SIPM) where he worked in the drilling operations department in various functions such as trainee-driller, assistant driller, driller, well site petroleum engineer, operations engineer and toolpusher within several SIPM operating companies in the Netherlands, Oman, Brunei and the UK. During his last year working in the drilling engineering / research departments in Shell’s headquarters in the Hague, he was a member of the drilling cost reduction spearhead team, initiating and assisting in the implementation of cost-reducing measures (technical and economical) within various operating companies of Shell. Disseminating the experience with these measures throughout the group of operating companies of the Shell group. At the same time coordinating a number of drilling-research projects. Co-author of several E&P research reports. Since 1987, he worked for State Supervision of Mines (SSM). Commenced as Head of Operations. In 1989 he was appointed as Deputy Inspector General responsible for the operational activities, i.e., inspecting, auditing, investigating, enforcing and assessing of plans, programs, reports and safety cases. Since 1992 special responsibility for the management of change (from hardware inspections towards auditing , verification and monitoring of management systems) and stimulating the companies to adopt and implement integrated management systems for safety, health and environment based on quality management systems like ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. Mr. de Jong was finally appointed as Inspector–General of Mines in 2003 responsible for managing the SSM organization as a whole. Since 2007 SSM is also responsible for the technical integrity of the pipeline infrastructure for the transport and distribution of natural gas to all households.

Jeff Edwards Jeff is currently the head of Safety for Shell’s Upstream Americas Business. In this role he is responsible for Safety Systems Engineering, Incident Investigation, as well as the development and maintenance of safety standards for Shell’s Upstream activities in Canada, the United States and South America. Prior to this role, Jeff was the head of HSSE-SP for Shell’s EP Technology organization. In this role he was responsible for the delivery of Health, Safety, Security, Environmental and Social Performance capability in support of Shell’s Upstream major projects across the globe. Jeff joined Shell in 1983 after receiving his BS in Chemical Engineering. He worked initially in sour gas production and processing followed by a move into project management. Jeff is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Institute at Texas A&M University.

Mark Fleming Dr. Mark Fleming is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Saint Mary's University. He received his Masters degree in Human Factors from Aberdeen University and his PhD in Psychology from The Robert Gordon University in Scotland. Mark is an applied psychologist with nearly 20 years of experience in industrial health and safety management in the offshore oil and gas industry. Currently, Dr. Fleming’s research includes investigating methods for measuring and improving safety culture, safety motivation, safety leadership, non-technical skills of high performance teams, health climate and aviation safety. He was one of the founding members and former Director of the CN Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Centre, a centre of research excellence at Saint Mary's University.

Steven A Flynn Steve was appointed Vice President for Health, Safety, Security & Environment, BP Group in November 2007. Steve graduated in Chemical Engineering from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1981. Steve went on to earn Masters and PhD degrees from Manchester for his research work, prior to joining BP Research at Sunbury-on-Thames in 1984. Steve spent the early part of his career with BP in technology, initially involved in mineral processing and going on to coordinate BP’s environmental technology programmes in the early nineties. Since then Steve has had a variety of roles in the area of Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) management in the Exploration and Production business. This included senior roles in North Sea operations in the late 1990’s, and more recently as HSE Manager for BP’s Gulf of Mexico Projects. Steve was also Head of HSE for Exploration and Production during the BP Amoco merger and spent an assignment in BP’s corporate planning department in London supporting executive management on strategy, commercial planning and financial analysis. Following the Texas City explosion in March 2005, Steve returned to London to support the development of BP’s strategic agenda in the area of Safety and Operations prior to taking up his current role.

Lars Herbst Regional Director Gulf of Mexico Region Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement U.S. Department of the Interior Mr. Lars Herbst is the Regional Director for the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region of Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. As the Regional Director, Mr. Herbst manages the leasing of the OCS lands for oil, gas, and other mineral development, and supervises the regulation of operations and protection of the environment on those leases which involve 3,600 platforms. This area covers the five Gulf Coast States. He manages a staff of 550, which includes geologists, geophysicists, petroleum engineers, biologists, and environmental scientists. Before his selection as Regional Director, he served as Acting Regional Director and as Regional Supervisor for Field Operations. The Field Operations office evaluates and approves operator proposals to install and modify platforms and pipelines on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leases, evaluates new technology to be used in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), reviews and approves exploration and development plans, and administers the GOM accident investigation and civil penalty programs. He managed 180 employees, including District Offices in Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and New Orleans, Louisiana, and Lake Jackson, Texas. Mr. Herbst began his career with BOEMRE in 1983 as a staff engineer in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region’s Technical Assessment unit. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Louisiana and holds a BS degree in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University.

Torleif Husebø Discipline Leader for process integrity Torleif Husebø is Discipline Leader for process integrity in the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway. He is also responsible for the Trends in Risk Level program of the PSA. Trends in Risk Level measure the impact of HSE related issues of the Norwegian petroleum industry in order to identify areas which are critical for HSE and improve the understanding of causes of accidents and their contribution to risk. Torleif has over 20 years of experience from the petroleum industry. He has a MSc in Electrical Engineering.

Walter Manning Director,Health Safety and Labour Relations Fund,Communications,Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) Born and raised in St. Bride's NL Walter began his career in the oil industry with Suncor Inc in Ft. McMurray AB in the early 80's. During that time he became quite active within his local union and served in several capacities including president of CEP local 707. Through his involvement with the Ft Mcmurray and district Labour Council he also sat on the exec board of the AB federation of Labour. He was a key player in helping to develop CEP's Energy Policy and Just Transition Policy. Walter is also a member of the Mining Industry and Human Resource Sector Council and currently serves as the chairman of its Board of Directors. In 2002 he moved to SK as a National Representative for the CEP. During the next 8 years his responsibility was to work with approx 16 local unions and their Employers. Part of that role included negotiating collective agreements as well as help resolve labour relations issues. Walter now resides in Ottawa and just recently took on the role of Director for the HSIRTF.

Jason P. Mathews Jason Mathews is a Petroleum Engineer for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) in the Offshore Regulatory Program, Accident Investigation Branch. His office is responsible for discovering accident causes and trends, and identifying means to prevent recurrence of the accidents and enhance safety and environmental protection on the OCS. The results of accident investigations and data analysis performed by the Accident Investigation Branch are used to identify the need for technical research, new/revised regulations and standards, changes in inspection strategy, safety workshops, and other appropriate actions. Jason has 7 years of experience with the BOEMRE with offshore experience in drilling, production, and workover operations in the Gulf of Mexico. He also represents the BOEMRE in multiple industry workgroups developing recommended practices and technical bulletins for station keeping of mobile offshore drilling units, design, and assessment of Outer Continental Shelf platforms, utilization and inspection of polyester mooring systems, medical evacuations, and the performance of offshore lifting events. Most recently, Jason took the lead in representing the BOEMRE in their IRF performance measures responsibilities. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering in 2003.

Øystein Michelsen Executive vice president, Statoil Exploration & Production Norway Executive vice president in StatoilHydro since 2008 and Statoil ASA since 2009. Recruited to Hydro’s research centre in Porsgrunn in 1981, he was attached to Hydro Oil and Energy division from 1985, and was head of the operations unit for Hydro’s oil activities from 2004. He has been senior vice president for StatoilHydro’s Operations North cluster since 2007. MA in engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) in Trondheim.

Buzz Morris Charles E. “Buzz” Morris is currently the General Manager, Upstream Capability, Health, Environment and Safety within Chevron’s Global Upstream and Gas (GUG) organization. In this position, Mr. Morris provides strategic leadership to the HES function and supports Chevron’s five upstream and gas operating companies and business units across the globe. Over the last 5 years, Mr. Morris has been stewarding Chevron’s management system, Operational Excellence across GUG. Over the last 30 years with Chevron, Mr. Morris has held HES positions with increasing responsibility in operations across the globe including: the Gulf of Mexico, Angola, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. He has also worked in head quarter locations in California and Texas.

Raphael Moura Mr. Moura earned a Bachelors degree in Production Engineering from Technical College and postgraduated in Offshore Systems Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He worked from 1996 to 2005 for Siem Consub SA (Siem Offshore Inc. Brazilian Subsidiary) as Project Engineer at several projects comprising naval and underwater technology. In addition, Mr. Moura was responsible for the diffusion of Integrated Management System (Safety, Quality and Environment - ISO 9000 / ISO 14001 / OHSAS 18001) and was appointed as President of Internal Commission of Accidents Prevention for 2004. Since November 2005 he has been working for the National Petroleum Agency (ANP*), dealing with inspections, auditing and investigating accidents at onshore and offshore Production Facilities. In May 2007, ANP Board of Directors appointed Mr. Moura as Head of the Safety Division, and he played a central role on the establishment of the new offshore safety regulatory model.

Magne Ognedal Director-General, Petroleum Safety Authority Norway Mr. Ognedal is a graduate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1967) with a BSC in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. He has experience from automation of ship engine rooms and in automatisation of industrial processes, and he has also lectured in these topics at the Royal Navy Ship Automation College in Stavanger. Employed by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate since 1974, starting as a Petroleum Engineer, later became Section Manager and from 1980 Director Safety and Working Environment Division, dealing with all aspects within safety and working environment for Norwegian offshore installations. Magne Ognedal was appointed Director-General of the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) which was established in 2004. The PSA is the government agency charged with overseeing safety and working environment conditions related to the petroleum activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and specified onshore facilities.

Tim Overton Tim Overton is the Head of Process Safety for BP Group. Tim joined BP in Sept. 2009, after working 28 years for The Dow Chemical Company. In the early part of his career, Tim held a number of leadership roles in process engineering, projects, and manufacturing. During the last 10 years, he was Dow's corporate Head of Process Safety Center or Chief Process Safety Engineering. He also served as the chairman of the Center for Chemical Process Safety committee on Leading and Lagging Process Safety Metrics. That committee published a guideline book and developed a set of process safety performance metrics which are now utilized by many oil and chemical companies. Tim graduated from the University of Texas with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering.

Robert Paterson Robert Paterson is Oil & Gas UK’s Health, Safety and Employment Issues Director. Robert is responsible for managing and coordinating development of industry policy for a wide range of health, safety, employment and skills issues on behalf of the industry including those relating to asset integrity, helicopter safety and business continuity. Robert worked previously as an Operations Manager within HSE’s Offshore Division where he managed a number of front line inspection and strategy teams. While in HSE Robert was closely involved throughout the development of the post-Piper offshore regulatory framework for health and safety, and in the provision of legal and enforcement advice and guidance to inspectors. Prior to this Robert spent several years leading an inspection team.

Howard Pike Howard Pike is the Manager of Operations and Chief Safety Officer with the Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum. His responsibilities include administration of the Atlantic Accord Implementation Acts and subordinate legislation regarding the safety of petroleum operations in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area. Howard is a native of St. John’s. He graduated from Memorial University in 1979 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, he worked in the petroleum industry prior to joining the Newfoundland and Labrador Petroleum Directorate. He joined the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board when it was formed in 1986. He is a registered Professional Engineer in province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a member of the Canadian Standards Association Steering Committee on Offshore Structures, and a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Stuart Pinks CEO, Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) Mr. Pinks is a senior regulatory and operations executive with a broad range of experience in the petroleum sector in Canada, Venezuela, Malaysia and Thailand. In January, 2009, Mr. Pinks was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board. Previous to this, he held the positions of Manager of Health, Safety & Environment, and Chief Safety Officer, since joining the organization in 2002. Prior to joining the Board, Mr. Pinks progressed through technical and management roles within the industry sector related to the design, procurement, construction, and operation of major energy projects both within Canada and internationally. His expertise includes project development and management; regulatory interface and oversight; health, safety and environmental quality management; stakeholder relations; management systems; and supplier development. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds the designation of Professional Engineer.

Max Ruelokke Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board Max Ruelokke is a professional engineer with wide experience in offshore oil and gas development in both public and private sector activities. His government service included offshore-related work with the Department of Regional Economic Expansion in the Government of Canada, and the Departments of Development and Tourism, Industry, Trade and Technology with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, serving as Deputy Minister of ITT. Senior appointments in private sector activity included co-founder and Vice-President of Hydrospace Marine Services, President and CEO of Marystown Shipyard Limited, and Bull Arm Site Corporation, and General Manager of AGRA-Brown & Root and AOC Brown & Root Canada Limited. At the time of his appointment to the C-NLOPB, he was General Manager, East Coast Canada, AMEC Oil and Gas.

Steve Walker After obtaining a degree in Chemical Engineering and working in industry, Steve joined the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 33 years ago. During his time in HSE Steve has worked in a wide number of operational posts (covering industries such as major hazard chemical plants, the offshore industry, railways, construction, agriculture and general manufacturing), providing proactive inspections/audit, accident investigations and enforcement activity. Whilst HSE’s Assistant Chief Inspector of Railways he took the lead in the investigation of the Ladbroke Grove rail crash in 1999, the biggest rail incident in the UK for some 10 years.  Steve also spent 5 years work on international and national policy for the transport of dangerous goods, including representing the UK at United Nations and European Union levels.  Steve moved to HSE’s Offshore Division (OSD) in 2004. During his time in OSD he has had responsibility for the safety regulation of the Southern North Sea and all diving activities throughout Great Britain, offshore structural and marine integrity issues, and most recently offshore strategic issues, cross-cutting specialisms such as human factors, and business delivery. He took up the post of Head of OSD in September 2009.

Honourable Robert Wells Graduated from Memorial University with a BA., in 1953 and was named Rhodes Scholar from Newfoundland in that year. Graduated from Oxford University in 1956 and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1958 and the Bar of Newfoundland in 1959. Work history and various roles provincially and nationally are as follows: Newfoundland Department of Justice, 1959-1962 (Legal Assistant to the Attorney General). Private Practice of Law, 1963-1986 Queen’s Counsel, 1972. President, Law Society of Newfoundland, 1977-1981 Member, House of Assembly, 1972-1979 Minister of Health and Government House Leader, 1975-1976 Chancellor, Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, 1979-1984 Chairman of the Board, Janeway Child Health Centre, 1977-1987 National President of Canadian Bar Association, 1985-1986 Justice, Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division, 1986-2008 Past President, Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. Past President, International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section). Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Laws by The Benchers of The Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador for service to the law, 2002. Former Chair, Canadian Bar Association Committee on Human Rights for Developing Countries. Conferences and meetings with Officials, Judges, and Lawyers in Kenya, China, India and Cameroon on human rights and legal issues. Former Member, International Bar Association Committee on Human Rights and the Rule of Law. Chair, Judicial Council of the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, (8 years). Member representing the Atlantic Provinces on the National Advisory committee on Judicial Ethics, (3 years). Chair of the Provincial Criminal Justice Committee from the Inception of the Committee to present date, (4 years). First person in Canada to be awarded Honorary Membership in the Canadian Police Association, 1970. Commissioner, Offshore Helicopter Safety Inquiry, 2009-2010. Did extensive work in dispute resolution as an alternative to the trial process during his judicial career as well as many years of resolving disputes as an alternative to litigation during his private practice as a lawyer. He joined the Centre for Innovative Dispute Resolution, St. John’s in September 2008.