International Offshore Petroleum Environment Regulators’ AGM 2021

NOPSEMA recently participated in the virtual AGM of the International Offshore Petroleum Environment Regulators’ Forum (IOPER). Now in its 10th year, IOPER continues to provide NOPSEMA with an opportunity to engage and benchmark with our regulatory counterparts across key OECD petroleum jurisdictions.
 
In addition to sharing best practices and responses to dealing with COVID-19, participants in this year’s AGM shared trends, best regulatory approaches and insights into a range of topics. Many regulators shared common experiences on climate change considerations; ageing assets and decommissioning; growing interest in other offshore energy industries; inspection methods during the pandemic; and financial assurance.
 
As part of continued efforts in two key areas, IOPER working groups for marine sound and for oil spill preparedness and response reported substantial progression of their respective projects.  The marine sound working group’s efforts have been focussed on building a database to support regulatory knowledge and the triage of key scientific literature on the effects of petroleum activities, in particular seismic surveys, on marine life. This will help support improved access to, and recognition and analysis of the substantial and growing body of scientific research.

The oil spill working group reported a successful close out of the project to initiate, promote and support a standardised approach to response time models for source control arrangements. The delayed International Oil Spill Conference was held virtually in May 2021 and showcased the IOGP Response Time Model Guideline and tool that was initiated as a collaborative effort between NOPSEMA, IOPER and IOGP. Work will now shift to understanding the different mechanisms applied by the IOPER jurisdictions, and the role of the regulator, to ensure adequate Testing and Exercising: Testing Effectiveness of Response Controls. 
 
While the AGM was held remotely in a more limited format, plans have been confirmed to progress in person meetings in Perth, Australia in October 2022 in conjunction with the IRF conference and AGM.