NEWSLETTERIN THIS EDITION

J U N E 2 0 1 1

Netherlands Oi l and Gas Exploration and Production Association

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Operators sign a contract for registration of offshore chemicals

Loose Objects Campaign

Welcome to Gert-Jan Windhorst

Novel Lightweight Drilling Rig ’Swift 10’ into action

2011 Doctors’ Day

NOGEPA Communication Campaign: Aardgas Update June 2011.

NOGEPA’s Natural Gas Symposium, 29 September 2011: Louwman Car Museum, The Hague

Subsidence Guideline

EU Matters

Members Update

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Cees van OosteromFollow-up to the Macondo Well IncidentA number of the working groups are expected to produce results in June:• A guideline checklist for use in the

planning, drilling and completion of a safe well to produce hydrocarbons. This checklist provides a minimum standard methodology that can be used by all oil and gas operators in the Netherlands and takes account of current industry best practices.

• A draft ‘Fit for Purpose’ Well Examination Scheme.

• A guideline checklist for the use of surface Blowout Preventers (BOPs). It records best practices; including BOP configuration, testing and maintenance. A section on well intervention BOPs is also included.

• A draft guideline for standards applied to critical well components.

• A draft outline for a two-day scenario-based well control training course under the IWCF umbrella. The pilot course (9 and 10 June) took place at the NAM Simwell facilities in Schoonebeek.

• A draft Standard Bridging document. Trials ongoing with Chevron, Dana and Total.

• An example of a Blowout Contingency Plan.

• A draft revised OCES (Operators Cooperative Emergency Services) agreement. Via this agreement, companies that require, for example, a drilling rig to drill a relief well can secure it from one of the other members of OCES.

It is good to start seeing the results of the tremendous effort made by the working groups. At the same time, we realise that we are not finished as yet. The authorities and the industry are still digesting what is being published. We do intend to seriously review and continue to learn from what is made available.

Our working groups are actively addressing the

findings of the numerous reports that have been

published following investigations into the

Macondo incident in the Gulf of Mexico. A unique feature of this collaborative effort is

that besides operators, it also involves contractors

and the authorities. This is truly a joint

industry effort. We are committed to taking on board the lessons

learned from Macondo.

NOGEPA, the Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production AssociationBezuidenhoutseweg 27-29P.O. Box 117292502 AS The Hague

Phone: +31 70 3478871Fax: +31 70 385123E-mail: info@nogepa.nl

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Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

Aart Tacoma

Operators sign a contract for registration of offshore chemicals

NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

The offshore operators recently signed a contract with Cefas, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the United Kingdom, for the registration of so called offshore chemicals. Registration of chemicals that are used in offshore operations is a requirement that follows from international OSPAR regulations. A registration is needed before a permit for use and discharge of offshore chemicals will be granted by the government. From 2007 the registration by Cefas has been carried out under a contract between the State Supervision of Mines and Cefas. The oil and gas industry has now taken over the burden from SSM.

OSPAR established the Harmonized Mandatory Control System for the Use and Discharge of Offshore Chemicals (HMCS) back in 2000 (and amended in 2005). The HMCS puts in place a management regime of data requirements, pre-screening and ranking of offshore chemicals.

The mechanism aims to minimise the risk associated with the use and discharge of offshore chemicals to the marine environment and encourage the substitution of products by less harmful ones. Data is submitted by

chemical suppliers using an offshore chemical notification format (HOCNF), including test results concerning persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity (PBT). These enable Cefas to categorise each chemical according to the relevant hazards (pre-screening), and rate each one against chemicals of a similar function (ranking). The information is also used by authorities to reach a decision on permits. Various guidelines (e.g. on how these data should be collected, and testing protocols) accompany these regulations.The OSPAR regulations were implemented in the

Mining Regulations. Initially the registration of offshore chemicals was performed by TNO, but the desire to achieve further harmonization of implementation among OSPAR countries led to a transfer of the registration scheme to Cefas, who have handled offshore chemical registrations in the UK from the outset. A Protocol was developed that describes the process that Cefas follows when a supplier requests the registration of a product http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/industry-information/offshore-chemical-notification-scheme.aspx

The HMCS is also one of the vehicles that is used for the implementation of an OSPAR Recommendation that puts in place environmental goals for the use and discharge of offshore chemicals: by 2017 the discharge (not the use) of chemicals that are or contain substances identified as candidates for substitution on the basis of PBT, should be stopped, unless operators demonstrate that doing this is not feasible in view of technical or safety concerns. Dutch operators have established and updated plans for the reduction of risk posed by the discharge of offshore chemicals in line with permit requirements. These plans will help achieving the 2017 improvement goals.

Cefas is an executive agency of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and is the UK’s largest and most diverse applied marine science centre. It provides evidence-based scientific advice, manages related data and information, conducts world-class scientific research, and facilitates collaborative action through wide-ranging relationships that span the EU, UK government, non-governmental organisations, research centres and industry.

Its work takes it from freshwater to the open ocean, and its remit includes both wild and farmed fish. Cefas plays a vital role in securing healthy marine and freshwater environments for everyone’s well-being, health and prosperity.

Further information about Cefas can be found at http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/

SNS PoolLoose Objects Campaign

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Since the start of the campaign, several actions have been taken in order to actively raise awareness of the dangers of and the threat posed by loose objects. The campaign focuses on the entire logistics supply chain, from suppliers, logistics companies and cargo handling to supply vessel crews, platforms and drilling rigs.

During the kick-off on April 1, a communiqué was sent out to all Offshore Installation Managers, explaining the goal of the campaign and asking them to brief all their colleagues on the importance of taking action against loose objects. All offshore platforms were sent posters and placemats.

To raise awareness among all offshore personnel, the campaign took Den Helder Airport as its focal point. Here, the campaign team placed banners, distributed placemats and posters and showed a loose objects awareness presentation together with the video briefing.

Awareness presentations were given at a number of occasions: the Operations Committee NOGEPA, the NOGEPA Offshore Installation Managers Meetings, the Marine Safety Forum in Aberdeen and the Cluster Well Services I.R.O.

Finally, over the next few months, the team will launch new campaign materials to keep drawing attention to the need to prevent loose objects. To continue raising awareness of this issue, they will place banners on shore at the entrances and exits of quay areas and hand out flyers to truck drivers.

Loose Objects. Life threatening. You can avoid it.

DEN HELDER – Two months ago, NOGEPA and

the SNS Pool launched the Loose Objects

campaign. Last year (2010), the number of loose objects reported

increased from 21 (2009) to the alarming number of 63. The ultimate goal

of this campaign is to bring the number of

loose objects down to zero.

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Welcome to Gert-Jan WindhorstAs of 1 July 2011, Gert-Jan Windhorst will take on the position of Secretary Operations

and Health and Safety/Deputy Secretary General within NOGEPA. He replaces Cees van Oosterom, who will turn 65 in the same month. Gert-Jan will be joining NOGEPA with a wealth of experience in International Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling. For the last 15 years, he served as Manager Health, Safety, Environment & Quality for Europe and North Africa within Noble Drilling. He is now looking forward to occupying a different chair at our industry round table. Gert-Jan is keen to support the

NOGEPA members in realising further joint improvements in our sector. He is convinced that a lot can be done together as an industry, including contractors, when taking on the challenge to develop a safe, healthy and effective Oil and Gas Production sector. It is clear that we will need to increasingly interact with our stakeholders. He feels that we should try to regularly meet and listen to each other, to discover where we can mutually benefit from synergies.

We welcome Gert-Jan to NOGEPA and look forward to working with him.

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Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Cees van Oosterom

Novel Lightweight Drilling Rig ’Swift 10’ into action

What would you think if you got the chance to engineer and develop a brand new lightweight drilling rig aimed at filling a niche in the Southern North Sea rig market? You would be allowed to use the latest proven technology. This challenge was presented by NAM to Swift Drilling. The design was developed by a joint team of Swift Drilling and NAM and Shell experts. The result is a lightweight, fully automated rig, with no-one present on the pipe deck or the rig floor. Using a joystick, the driller controls all the required operations from his cockpit. By means of the joystick, the driller can for example pick up the drill pipe from the unmanned pipe deck, bring the drill pipe into the top drive in the derrick, screw it into the drill pipe sticking up out of the rotary table, etc. Thanks to its rectangular, four-legged design, the rig has a large deck area to store the drilling materials. Below deck there is little deck space. The rig can operate in up to 45 metres of water, which suffices for most locations in the Southern North Sea.

All in all, this makes the rig suitable for lighter jobs such as, for example, well maintenance, taking wells out of service, drilling slim holes, etc. The rig is expected to bring down the costs of such operations in this niche.

Tuesday 19 May saw the moment of truth, when the ‘Swift 10’ was pulled out to sea to perform its first job in the L13 block. The crew was very motivated, as this presented them an opportunity to operate a state-of-the-art drilling rig.

We welcome this new highly automated addition to the drilling rig fleet of the Southern North Sea.

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Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Cees van Oosterom2011 Doctors’ Day

On 16 June 2011, we will be holding our ninth annual Doctors’ Day. At the start of 2003, significant changes were introduced to the Dutch Mining Legislation. Occupational Health and Safety were removed from the Mining Legislation and were henceforth covered by the Arbo Legislation. One of the side effects of these changes is that an offshore medical examination and a system for approved offshore medical examination doctors is no longer mandatory under the current legislation. However, an characteristic feature of working offshore is that there is no doctor around and that it can take a long time - if there is fog offshore, for instance - before a person in need can be moved to a hospital.

With this in mind, our industry shouldered its responsibility and organised its own system of medical examinations and approved doctors to perform such examinations. We currently have a NOGEPA medical examination protocol in place that is aligned with similar protocols in the other North Sea countries. We have

also set up a system of NOGEPA-approved medical examination doctors. Those working offshore in the North Sea require a valid medical before they can be booked on a flight offshore. Thanks to the alignment of the protocols in the North Sea region, valid medicals performed in other North Sea countries are also accepted.

One of the requirements for becoming a NOGEPA-registered medical examination doctor is sufficient knowledge of what working offshore entails. To promote this knowledge, once a year, NOGEPA organises a schooling day for its medical examination doctors. Attendance is required once every two years. The schooling day programme treats the following subjects:• What does working offshore involve?• For which reasons were offshore medical

evacuations performed?• Discussions about the results of medical

examinations, focusing on whether people can be declared fit to work offshore or not.

There is a strong commitment on the part of the doctors during the meetings. There are lively discussions and a lot of useful information and findings are exchanged.

We look forward to another interesting Doctors’ Day on 16 June.

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Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Jelto Terpstra

NOGEPA Communication Campaign: Aardgas Update June 2011

In Europe The Netherlands plays a major role as the logistic junction for natural gas, the so-called gas roundabout. We import 25 billion m3 of gas, from Russia and Norway and we export 55 billion m3 a.o. to England, Germany and France. On top we produce 80 billion m3 of natural gas from Dutch soilo. What is the economic impact of the gas hub strategy?

In this programme the striking opinions from Gertjan Lankhorst (Gasterra), Coby van der Linde (Clingendael International Energy Programme), Hans Vijlbrief (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and InnovationI) and Barend Botter (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V.).

www.aardgas-update.nl

The theme of this month’s journal

is: the Dutch Gas Roundabout

Barend Botter - (Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V.) -‘We are working hard to maintain the current production levels from small gas fields for the next 20 years’.

Coby van der Linde - (Clingendael International Energy Programme) -‘We can use our expertise of the past few decades to remain a big player in Europe’.

Hans Vijlbrief - (Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation) -‘We have great know-how in natural gas’.

Gertjan Lankhorst - Gasterra -‘It’s the essence of our energy supply; it’s all about gas’.

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Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Jelto Terpstra

Cees van Oosterom

NOGEPA’s Natural Gas Symposium, 29 September 2011: Louwman Car Museum, The Hague

Subsidence Guideline

Jeroen van der Veer, who will be representing the Energy Top Sector, will give a presentation on the expectations of the energy sector, including the conclusions and findings of the Top Sector. This presentation will offer an extensive discussion of concepts such as innovation, cooperation and necessary investments in the current and future economic climate. In the following presentation, Diederik Samsom of the Dutch Labour Party will

outline his vision on the energy debate in relation to politics and society. This first part of the morning session will be followed by a debate that actively involves the audience.

After lunch, Erik van Engelen of the Green Gas Netherlands expert group will address the room. He will discuss the energy mix in the year 2030 and the demands and expectations of society. Finally, EBN’s Berend Scheffers will explain the importance of gas for the Netherlands and for society and will make recommendations on how the industry can continue to make a significant contribution to meeting the future energy demand. This second session also will be followed by a debate in which the audience is asked to respond to proposed statements. The day will end with a tour of the museum and drinks.

During the production of oil, gas or salt, compaction of the subsoil may occur to some degree, resulting in surface subsidence. To keep a check on this, the production plan submitted to the State Supervision of Mines needs to contain, among other things, a prediction of how much subsidence is expected to occur as a result of production. The producing companies are also required to physically measure the extent of the subsidence, to demonstrate that the observed subsidence stays within the limits agreed upon in the approved production plan.

The purpose of the Guideline is therefore to provide a framework for obtaining and processing the results of the various types of measurements available today, in

accordance with a TCBB report published in 2009. The analysis should provide a clear and accurate overview of which part of the total observed subsidence is caused by the extraction of minerals from the deeper subsoil. The Guideline should be flexible enough to allow for a basic measurement network for small fields with little subsidence as well as a more extensive measurement network when this is warranted by the size and/or nature of the reservoir, for example. The annual measurement plan itself will always be submitted for approval to the authorities.

The intention is to complete a first draft working version of the Guideline by the end of the third quarter of 2011.

On 29 September 2011, NOGEPA will host a symposium about natural gas

on the theme of the energy mix in 2030

Representatives from TCBB (the Dutch

Technical Committee on Land Movement), the Dutch authorities

and the Oil & Gas and Salt Producers

are working on a Guideline outlining

how to check for subsidence.

Bram van MannekesEU Matters

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Offshore safety:NOGEPA participated in the public consultation dealing with Offshore Safety. OGP Europe drafted a very good response to this consultation, which we have used in our contribution. There is a high level of activity in Brussels with regard to this subject, as the proposals of the EU Commission are expected in July.

Parallel discussions are taking place in the environmental and ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) committees of the European Parliament. OGP Europe is playing an active role in the discussions with the EU Commission and EU parliament members in order to clarify the E&P industry position.

EMSA and Marine Spatial PlanningThe rules applying to the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which are currently limited to oil pollution caused by ships, are also under review. An important point of discussion is whether the remit should include a role in licensing offshore oil and gas activities. We see no added value in this and believe that a duplication of regulations and procedures should be avoided.

The EU Commission has also organised a public consultation allowing interested parties to offer their views on Marine Spatial Planning. OGP Europe also replied to this consultation.

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association NEWSLETTER J U N E 2 0 1 1

Disclaimer newsletter NOGEPA has taken the greatest of care to ensure the accuracy of the contents of the e-mail newsletter, but is not liable for any inaccuracies, omissions, or errors whether in respect of the information provided in the e-mail newsletter. The information in the newsletter may only be used by readers for their own purposes. Permission must be obtained from NOGEPA for any other use.

Bram van MannekesMembers UpdateWe have seen several changes in our membership. In April, we already welcomed Sterling Resources, a Calgary-based energy company involved in the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas. On 1 July, SMART Energy Solutions will rejoin NOGEPA. Oranje-Nassau

Energy has taken over CIRRUS and has become a full NOGEPA member. Thanks to these new members, total membership has risen to 16, a number not seen in a very long time.

On the down side, since NUON’s oil- and gas activities were taken over by Tullow Oil, the number of associate members has dropped to a record low, i.e. only one company: Dyas.

Update of EU information that

matters to our Dutch E&P activities