Abstract
The oil and gas industry is committed to the protection of people and the environment. Prevention of incidents is of primary importance to meet safety and environmental goals, support global reputation, maintain shareholder confidence, and essential for maintaining a license to operate. Some characteristics of the Arctic operating environment require additional consideration compared to more established offshore regions; however, wherever the industry operates, safety of people and protection of the environment takes priority over all else in the business. The oil and gas industry believes it has the right tools to operate in many Arctic provinces today, but also recognizes the need for continuous focus to improve operating practice (e.g., safety and reliability) and to extend safe practice into more demanding operating conditions. A key success factor in driving this advancement is collaboration. This collaboration comes in the form of both industry working together, and industry working with regulators, private and public stakeholder groups. This paper focuses on advancement initiatives and efforts under the auspices of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) and places them into the Arctic context. These initiatives include development of new technology, equipment, guidelines, standards, as well as knowledge sharing. The initiatives are aimed at both improving incident prevention and the robustness of response measures.
