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MobilisationTechnical Advisor calloutTechnical Advisor callout leading to mobilisation

2009 RESPONSE ACTIVITIES TO DATE 26* response mobilisations 15 Technical Advisor callouts*Including one in the Bahamas (not pictured)

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What makes a successful response?When an oil spill occurs, a common first reaction is to source response equipment, but is the availability of equipment really the critical issue?

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

Why we value expertiseEmploying and developing competent personnel is a key commitment by Oil Spill Response to our clients and stakeholders.

Role of the Spill Response Specialist through the yearsThe role of the spill responder has evolved greatly over time, due to changes from both within industry and external expectations.

Africa: Growing business and community tiesOil Spill Response has been engaging and informing customers of our company and services, and consequently we have been involved in more and more work in the region.

Emphasis needs to be placed on the resource of expertise. This is particularly important in the early stages of an incident when key decisions are made and competence in handling the situation is demonstrated. In getting these decisions right one needs to understand the scope and scale of the issues involved.

From an oil industry perspective, the main goal is prevention of oil spills and not the response to them. The level of spill response expertise and experience in oil companies is low and the downward trend is set to continue.

Accidents do happen. When they do it is vital to access all available expertise at the earliest opportunity to formulate key response strategies. This is where Oil Spill Response is

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able to assist either through technical advisory support (a Member can call for an experienced responder to attend a potential or actual spill on site at no cost for the first 48 hours) or by joining a Member’s incident management structure.

Our responders are skilled in many disciplines, not just equipment handling and can provide valuable technical and management support both in the emergency phase and in the later project phases of a response, including managing operations projects, post spill monitoring and incident follow up programmes. Oil Spill Response can also identify and integrate other resources into the overall response. ■

Download our CUSTOMER CONTACT PROGRAMME 2009 leaflet from our website to find out more about the various types of visits we conduct for our Members.

Enhancing customer contact worldwideWe are committed to engaging our customers and meeting our Members’ varying needs. Our Customer Contact Programme aims to ensure that Members are aware of our services and for us to hear what other services you require. To date for 2009, we have made over 120 face to face visits during which valuable customer feedback was gained. ■

Members’ Welcome

A Newsletter Publication by Oil Spill Response Limited | December 2009 MICA (P) No. 134 / 02 / 2009

We would like to welcome to Oil Spill Response Murphy E&P as our new Shareholder Member, and the new Associate Members CNOOC Africa, Dong, Foxtrot International, Hurricane Exploration, Galoc Production, Kurmangazy Petroleum, Petrobras Libya & Angola, Petro SA, Plains Vietnam, Sinopec EG, Vanco International and Vitol Services who have joined to date this year. ■

What makes a successfulresponse?

Executive Foreword

DAVE SALT, Operations Director

A response effort which combines the correct equipment with expertise will be more successful than one with equipment resources and no leadership.

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Feature article

Why we value competence

Fewer oil spills every year mean that the industry has commensurately less in-house experience of how to deal with them. Being able to determine that people’s expertise is kept current and that they are proficient at running a successful response is key. To do this Oil Spill Response have introduced a suite of competency standards.

Oil Spill Response has attended major incidents from the Amoco Cadiz, Piper Alpha, Exxon Valdez, Erika, Evoikos to the Hebei Spirit during our history of over 300 spill mobilisations. It is through these incidents that our expertise has been developed. Despite this wealth of experience, we remain keenly aware that our Members expect above all the reassurance that any response effort, no matter the size, is being managed by qualified and competent personnel.

To this end we have developed an Approved Competency Management System (ACMS) for which we have designed and implemented six occupational standards for oil spill response. These standards are accredited by the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO), industry’s focal point for personnel development for the offshore energy sector.

The ACMS forms the primary basis for our internal mentoring, appraising and succession planning processes. People on this programme apply relevant knowledge and experience to develop the required skill sets and have to provide evidence of performance and knowledge to demonstate proficiency

in handling tasks impacting the success of a response.

Why is competence important?

Oil Spill Response CEO Archie Smith puts it simply, “Responders today are less seen as responders and more as spill advisors.” A clearly defined competency matrix is key to the delivery of response and preparedness expertise.

Aligning the ACMS to the Incident Command System (ICS) structure used by most oil companies ensures that Oil Spill Response’s staff are able to fill positions within the client’s ICS structure and assures Members that incidents are handled proficiently allowing for core business activities to resume in the shortest time possible. ■

The 2007 Cosco Busan incident saw at least 53,000 gallons of HFO being spilled into San Francisco Bay. The resulting Incident Specific Preparedness Review (ISPR) by the United States Coast Guard recommended that certain positions should require qualifications, particularly those that involved fully trained and seasoned personnel.

The ISPR noted the lack of spill quantification experts available to develop essential data on hazardous material type and quantity. The initial mix-up in assessing the quantity of oil on the water meant that tides had more time to broaden the oil slick. The ISPR also noted that “as moderate and large oil spills become increasingly rare, real life oil spill experience becomes difficult to find.” ■

Get the right expertise

Competence-based training option becoming more popularThe competence-based training (CBT) option has become increasingly popular among our Members since its inception in 2008. Companies are beginning to use it as a benchmark for the training of their key operational staff including one of our shareholder members with extensive operations in Asia.

Interestingly also in Asia, a major regional port is beginning to look at the concept of

competence; after sending some of their own staff to the On Scene Commander Clearance Course in Singapore, the port authority is now requiring local operators to do likewise and train their staff under accredited oil spill response occupational standards.

2009 has been an active year so far; 18 courses offering the CBT Option have been conducted, with 61 delegates successfully attaining their OPITO certificates of competence.

Delegate feedback has been complimentary, touching on the depth and breadth of topics covered, inclusion of practical components and commending the trainers for the experience demonstrated. ■

The Assessment Option can be co-opted into a course tailored to your specific requirements and suited to your operating environment.

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“Other than equipment deployment, there are wider issues that have implications on what a spill response specialist is trying to achieve. The Erika incident in France showed me that many different ‘hats’ were needed to oversee the different activities undertaken daily, including site assessments, supervising 250 local labourers and maintaining dialogue

with the local provincial mayor on the progress of the response.”

RICHARD SIMSOil Spill Response Operations Manager

Greentide 2009In keeping with our commitment to technical development, Oil Spill Response held a joint aerial and marine dispersant application exercise. The scale of the exercise provided ample opportunity for personnel development. All staff members had to either be assessed or assess others achieving respective occupational standards. Ten operations staff were able to gain first exposure to ADDS pack and dispersant application operations while a further 21 staff took on the challenge of being developed in new roles. ■

Fluoroscein marks used to indicate the start and end of a simulated slick

Building competency through exercises

Role of the Spill Response Specialistthrough the years

Today’s spill response specialist hails from a variety of backgrounds, and the challenge is how to use these diverse skills to enhance work performance and deliver quality service. Being trained in environmental technology and having a chemistry background, I was able to work with a group of scientists to conduct dispersant effectiveness monitoring using

fluorometry techniques during a recent spill incident.”

TAN SWEE HUANGOil Spill Response Spill Response Specialist

“Today’s spill response specialist must be a proactive member of any response team. They must gain the trust and respect of their client through displaying confidence, diplomacy, authority and team working skills in addition to a deep technical knowledge. No one can be a master of all oil spill response skills so they must use their personal networks to deliver quality

solutions. Such a person would be invaluable to a response team.”

BERNIE BERNETTFormer North Sea Crisis Manager for BP

academics, environmental professionals and ex-military servicemen. In growing the remit of their responsibility and skill toward a more supervisory and consultative basis, these multi-skilled individuals continue to drive the evolution to create the Spill Response Specialist we see today. ■

The creation of the Oil Spill Service Centre (OSSC) by BP in Southampton in 1981 saw the emergence of the first dedicated team of Oil Spill Operators to combat the threat of oil spills. Borne out of a series of notable spill incidents and drawn from a predominately maritime background, they paved the way for an evolution

that has so far spanned almost three decades.

As knowledge and competence grew, the term ‘Operator’ was gradually replaced by the more fitting title of ‘Oil Spill Technician’. In addition to marine skills, the profession also started to benefit from the contributions of

Loading the ADDS Pack onto the Hercules aircraft for deployment

Ghana: Supporting Members’ offshore exploration activities

Kosmos Energy and Tullow Oil are currently involved in exploration activities offshore of Ghana, having discovered the Jubilee Field, one of the largest oil finds in West Africa in the last decade with an estimated 1.8 billion bbls of oil reserves.

Since August 2009, response specialist Lee Prendergast has undertaken a ten-week stint at Kosmos, providing oil spill response technical assistance in an HSE Advisor role in support of their drilling programme while trainer Rakhm Shad has been assisting Tullow Oil in the provision of oil spill response practical training and conducting equipment readiness remedial work.

Both Lee and Rakhm were also involved in training and presenting to governmental agencies, including environmental protection agencies, navy, police, commercial port and local waste contractors, all of whom required a better understanding of the fates, effects of oil spills and their roles during an incident. Local expectations and concerns are high from employment

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SOUTHAMPTON T +44 (0)23 8033 1551 F +44 (0)23 8033 1972 E southampton@oilspillresponse.com

CONTACT USSINGAPORET +65 6266 1566F +65 6266 2312 E singapore@oilspillresponse.com

BAHRAIN T +973 1773 0961 F +973 1773 0058 E bahrain@oilspillresponse.com

LONDON (REG. OFFICE) T +44 (0)20 7724 0102F +44 (0)20 7724 0103 E london@oilspillresponse.com

ABERDEEN T +44 (0)1224 72 6859 F +44 (0)1224 72 6860 E aberdeen@oilspillresponse.com

INDONESIAT +62 21 5291 7494F +62 21 515 7799 E indonesia@oilspillresponse.com

To get access to a Duty Manager, please contact Southampton or Singapore.

Regional engagement

Africa: Growing business and community ties

Dubai Petroleum

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Angola: National Claims and Compensation Workshop

Under the auspices of the GI-WACAF project, Oil Spill Response conducted this workshop for representatives from the Angolan government and local oil industry to learn more about the international regime dealing with compensation issues arising from spills of persistent oil from tankers. The Angolan National Oil Spill Contingency Plan adopted in 2008 was also discussed, particularly where the claims and compensation process has an impact. The establishment of the Executive Technical Committee, essential to effectively implementing the NOSCP, was also identified as a priority action.

This workshop demonstrated the commitment of all parties to work together to improve Angola’s capacity to deal with marine oil spill incidents and minimise the impact on its economy and local communities. ■

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opportunities to the environmental impact of E&P activities. Tullow has commenced a corporate social responsibility programme to help educate and alleviate some of these concerns. During these secondments Lee and Rakhm assisted with the building of a new school crossing as a part of this initiative. ■

In October, Oil Spill Response held Technical Forums in Jakarta where we looked at the response challenges facing the E&P industry as it moves to ever more remote areas, and in Singapore where we considered the costs of marine oil spills for the oil and shipping industries which continue to increase despite the reduction in major incidents.

Member representatives, Board Members and staff attending the Technical Forum at the Sheraton Towers Singapore

TECHNICAL FORUMS 2009