Academic literature on the topic 'Petroleum workers Australia'

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is an inevitable by-product of petroleum exploration and production. It is produced with the reservoir fluids and is typically found in low concentrations, but potentially high volumes. However, Victorian regulations that cover NORM are based on acceptable public exposure to ionising radiation and appear to be formulated around high concentration, low volume sources such as those found in medical procedures.Esso Australia Pty Ltd conducted a comprehensive exposure assessment study to establish limits for NORM. The two-year study was carried out in conjunction with the regulators (Victorian Environment Protection Authority, Department of Human Services, and Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) and included other key stakeholders like employees and suppliers.This paper provides a discussion of the management plans for, and the results of, assessments undertaken to quantify any potential risk of handling and disposing of NORM material in the environment. The assessments demonstrate that exposure to NORM released into the environment from Bass Strait oil and gas operations does not present a radiological hazard to workers, the general public, or ecological receptors. In fact, it represents less than 1% of Australian and internationally accepted limits for such exposure.

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) in the offshore petroleum industry are generally associated with the formation of scale in pipes and vessels. As scale and sludge contain radioactive isotopes of radium they are in the category of Low Specific Activity (LSA) NORMs. Handling of NORMs creates issues involving occupational health and safety, environmental protection and radioactive waste management and waste disposal. Barium(Radium)Sulfate scale is highly insoluble and can create serious production problems by clogging pipes and valves.The paper discusses the external gamma radiation monitoring at the external surfaces of well and oil production pipes which assists in establishing the scale thickness patterns in pipes and in identifying the optimum location of a scale inhibitor injection point.To minimise radiation doses received by workers special NORM handling Work Procedures and Instructions supported by radiation protection training need to be developed. If facility personnel are trained in radiation protection and Work Procedures and Instructions are adopted it is possible to effectively manage personal radiation exposures below the public limit of 1 millisievert per year. Under such conditions no personal radiation monitoring during routine operations is required and the assessment of routine annual external radiation doses may be carried out through yearly external gamma radiation surveys of of fshore petroleum production facilities.The NORM waste cannot be disposed of onshore within the same disposal sites used for general non-radioactive waste. In Australia only the NORM waste generated in Western Australia can be disposed of onshore in an official low level radioactive waste disposal facility. It is important that Governments of other States and Territories address the onshore NORM waste disposal option. Regulations should also address a screening method for scrap metal contaminated by NORMs to be released for smelting.

With increasing emphasis on occupational health as a component of maritime safety case requirements for Australia, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA), in keeping with their goal of improving health and safety outcomes across the industry, has ramped up their expectations on noise management plans (NMP). Now the expectation includes noise risk assessments and evaluation and implementation of feasible engineering noise controls, and NOPSA have added scrutiny of ototoxic substances as well, all of which parallel international trends. NOPSA surveys have found rather poor industry compliance with noise management requirements overall, and have stated that they will continue to promote the issues and will not hesitate to take enforcement action to improve compliance. Occupational noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is 100% permanent and 100% preventable. Failing to prevent NIHL has significant human, economic, legal and operational impacts. NIHL results in diminished quality of life including isolation and communication problems that affect social interactions. The economic effects of NIHL include lost time and decreased productivity, loss of otherwise qualified and experienced workers through medical disqualification, workers’ compensation costs and disability settlements, retraining costs and expenses related to medical intervention and treatment. Noise-impaired communications affect workplace operational and health and safety performance, and noisy ship and maritime platform accommodations and common areas adversely affect staff comfort, fatigue, morale and general well-being.

The history of petroleum exploration in central Australia has been enlivened by vigorous debate about the source(s) of the oil and condensate found in the Cooper/Eromanga basin couplet. While early workers quickly recognized the source potential of thick Permian coal seams in the Patchawarra and Toolachee Formations, it took some time for the Jurassic Birkhead Formation and the Cretaceous Murta Formation to become accepted as effective source rocks. Although initially an exploration target, the Cambrian sediments of the underlying Warburton Basin subsequently were never seriously considered to have participated in the oil play, possibly due to a lack of subsurface information as a consequence of limited penetration by only a few widely spaced wells. Dismissal of the Warburton sequence as a source of hydrocarbons was based on its low generative potential as measured by total organic carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis analyses. As most of the core samples analysed came from the upper part of the basin succession that has been subjected to severe weathering and oxidation, these results might not reflect the true nature of the Warburton Basin’s source rocks. We analysed a suite of source rock extracts, DST oils and sequentially extracted reservoir bitumens from the Gidgealpa field for conventional hydrocarbon biomarkers as well as nitrogen-containing carbazoles. The resulting data show that organic facies is the main control on the distribution of alkylated carbazoles in source rock extracts, oils and sequentially extracted bitumens. The distribution pattern of alkylcarbazoles allows to distinguish between rocks of Jurassic, Permian and pre-Permian age, thereby exceeding the specificity of hydrocarbon biomarkers. While no pre-Permian signature can be found in the DST oils, it is present in sequentially extracted residual oils. However, the pre-Permian molecular source signal is diluted beyond recognition during conventional extraction procedures. The bitumens that are characterised by a pre-Permian geochemical signature derive from differing pore-filling oil pulses and exhibit calculated maturities of up to 1.6% Rc, thereby proving for the first time the petroleum generative capability of source rocks in the Warburton Basin.

As interpretations of sequence stratigraphy are published in increasing numbers in the petroleum exploration literature, the potential for confusion also increases because there are no rules for the classification or naming of the identified sequences. At present it is difficult to apply databases and geographic information systems to sequence stratigraphy, particularly when organisations with different outlooks and approaches attempt to collaborate and merge their databases.Despite sequence stratigraphic concepts having been in the literature for over two decades, no scheme for standardisation has achieved consensus in the geoscientific community, either within Australia or internationally. Three areas in particular need to be agreed on: (1) how sequence units should be defined; (2) the hierarchy of those units, and on what basis; and (3) a standard scheme for naming units.The two basic ways of subdividing a succession into sequence units, the Vail–Exxon and Galloway methods, both rely on the enclosing boundaries being defined first. Various hierarchies of units have been proposed, in which there is often a clear desire to link the scale of sequence units to phases of geological evolution or stratal boundaries of different orders. In addition, most workers use informal names, but formal names are becoming more common. Consequently, it is essential that workable national guidelines be developed to ensure that communication and computer compatibility are not impeded.

To provide a pathway to employment, petroleum industry employers are sponsoring a standard induction program, delivered through a national network of training centres, which will be recognised as a passport for workers to gain access to oil and gas facilities.The Australian upstream petroleum industry faces many staffing challenges including: difficulties recruiting staff for new developments, competition from overseas projects for construction contractors, and the imminent retirement of an aging workforce. This growing employment demand and limited labour supply has created a strong competitive recruitment market that is characterised by skills shortages. Consequently, the industry is having to recruit workers from non-traditional labour pools and engage contractors whose workforce has limited oil and gas experience. Many of these workers are not familiar with petroleum industry processes, safety procedures, or environmental hazards.APPEA is supporting the development of the Induction Program to raise awareness and commence acquisition of these petroleum industry competencies; to facilitate wider staff recruitment; to up-skill contractors’ workforces; and, reduce repeated induction training while ensuring safety standards are maintained. The Induction Program will establish a qualification underpinned by a competency- based approach that is recognised as the minimum standard of entry level training for all workers in upstream petroleum workplaces. The Induction Program will be delivered through a national network of purpose-built Induction Centres designed to provide practical hands-on training in a simulated workplace environment.

There is increasing pressure on the pipeline industry to be able to demonstrate that its asset management and engineering capability management are at a satisfactory level. This is needed to give policymakers, regulators and industry stakeholders confidence in the safety and environmental sustainability of petroleum pipelines. Regulators, in particular, are seeking assurance from pipeline owner/operators that they have capable pipeline engineers designing, constructing, operating and maintaining petroleum pipelines. At present, there are no generally accepted approaches to recognising and developing pipeline engineering capability. The paper will discuss three levels of capability recognition as: (1) registration – as pipeline engineers (not just in mechanical, civil or chemical engineers (overall standing level)) – (2) qualification (sub-discipline/job level) and (3) competency (task level). The most granular and useful of these is competency. This is because it is at the level that is most immediate: the task at hand. Competency, the combination of knowledge and experience that leads to expertise, is increasingly seen as the best practice basis for learning, particularly for professionals. Significantly, once competencies have been defined in competency standards, they can become the building blocks used to define the requirements for both registration and qualification. The Australian Pipelines and Gas Association (APGA) has developed a comprehensive competency system for both onshore and offshore sectors. There are 226 onshore competency standards and 57 offshore competency standards describing, in a succinct format, what is required to be competent. The succinct format of the competency standards avoids the pitfalls of many other systems of competency description, providing enough information to be clear about what is required without unnecessary complexity. In addition to the detailed competency standards, the competency system has tools, resources and a progressive rating scale that make competency standards accessible and easily used. The competency system is characterised by such flexibility that, to date, APGA has identified 15 applications, all of which will add value to engineers and the companies that employ them. The paper will explain, in detail, APGA’s Pipeline Engineer Competency System, how it works and how it can provide the building blocks for a wide range of tasks that support the training, development and recognition of pipeline engineers’ capabilities, including defining the requirements for registration and qualification. The paper will provide case studies, based on the APGA Competency System, showing how it can be used to create requirements for qualifications and registration and to design in-house training and development plans.