Exploration and Production

Introduction 

OISD (Oil Industry Safety Directorate) is a technical directorate under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that formulates and coordinates the implementation of a series of self-regulatory measures aimed at enhancing the safety in the oil & gas industry in India. 

Activities of Exploration & Production (E&P) Group 

Regulatory activities 

The Petroleum & Natural Gas (Safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, 2008 were notified by Govt. of India in June, 2008 for regulation of safety in offshore exploration, exploitation, conservation & management of Petroleum and Natural Gas and matter connected therewith.

OISD has been designated as competent authority to exercise powers and functions as stipulated in Petroleum & Natural Gas (Safety in Offshore Operations) Rules, in June 2008.

Guidance notes for P&NG Rules have been prepared and provided to companies.

As competent authority, OISD carries out supervision of safety of offshore installations by means of consents, investigations, verifications and safety audits.

Oil Mines Regulations, 1984 (Specific to E&P Industry) framed under provisions of The Mines Act, 1952, have been revised in August 2017. These Rules are enforced by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Under the provisions of the Oil Mines Regulations, 2017, duly notified by Government of India through a Gazette notification dated 18th August, 2017; 16 Numbers of OISD standards have been included.

OISD is also designated as the nodal agency for any disaster affecting the Private Sector Installations. OISD periodically conducts coordination meetings to review the status of Disaster Management plans and readiness by these companies.  

Consent for Decommissioning in Offshore

OISD has been designated as Approving Authority for Decommissioning activities in E&P Offshore. In a first of its kind , one  consent for Tapti field (PMT JV) decommissioning has already been accorded to BGEPIL where 38 wells plug and abandon campaign has been successfully completed and structures decommissioning is scheduled to start shortly.

Another consent, for MA field decommissioning approval for MA field in KG deep water area of M/s RIL has been accorded.

External Safety Audit 

OISD undertakes External Safety Audit of E & P operations (Onshore/Offshore) of all upstream companies (PSU Companies and JV’s/Pvt. operators working under PSC) to assess the efficacy of the safety management system. Methodology comprises of review of documents and interaction with the concerned personnel besides physical tour of the installations (Production installation/ Drilling rig / Workover rig).

OISD conducts ESA for upstream industry. Presently there are about 578 installations (506 onshore and 72 offshore platforms, rigs etc.) and about 238 unmanned platforms for which ESA’s are being planned based on vintage.

Status of implementation of ESA recommendations / observations is periodically reviewed in Steering Committee and Safety Council Meetings.

Incident Investigations 

E&P companies report all incidents to OISD. All major and fatal incidents are required to be informed to OISD within 24 hours of occurrence. Based on the severity and impact on the system, OISD carry out investigations of major incidents.

Incident reports are reviewed & analysed. Recommendations are shared with industry to avoid recurrence of similar incidents. Safety alerts are also being issued periodically.

Standards/Guidelines/Recommended code of practices 

The following 34 standards pertain directly to E&P Operations: 

1. OISD workshop on " Fire and Safety in Upstream Oil and Gas Opeartaion " was organised at IPSHEM, ONGC, GOA jointly by OISD and ONGC during 14,15 Feb 2020. papers were presented on relevant subject by Additional Director (PL), Additional director (E&P) and joint Director (E&P).
2. Additional Director(E&P) , OISD made a presentation on Oil Spill Preparedness and Response at the 35th conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Industrial Safety at Gangtok, Sikkim which was held during 4-6 December 2019.
3. Additional Director(E&P) attended a workshop on " safer Decommissioning of Offshore Structures including Ships" at London UK on 8th and 9th July 2019 conducted by Royal Academy of Engineering in partnership with the Lloyd's Register Foundation.
4. OISD made a presentation at national workshop on " Safe practices of Onshore Workover and Well testing operations " on 29th June 2019 at Ahmedabad organised under the aegis of Director General Mines Safety.
   
5. Many Oil fields have reached a stage where facilities need to be decommissioned due to the decline in production and the fields not being economically viable. FIPI (Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry) organized a workshop on ‘Decommissioning and Abandonment of Oil and gas facilities’ on 5^th September 2018 which was supported by OISD .
   
6. A workshop on Asset Integrity and Safety in E&P was organized by OISD on 4^th and 5^th December 2017.
7. Managing risk in E&P is more challenging than in other industries. Risk management is the culmination of wealth of technical knowledge & vision of the organization. Knowledge stimulates the control of risk during heterogenic environmental operations in exploring Oil & Gas. Workshop on Emerging Risks in Oil Field Industry - Lessons learnt from past accidents was held at OISD on 27th and 28th December 2016 with an aim to focus on regulations & risks associated throughout life cycle of the project. Speakers from BGEPIL, ONGC, CAIRN, IDT, OISD, OIL, DUPONT & DWDSPL presented technical papers on all the facets of risk management. Feedback from the participants has been positive with an average rating of 90.2% with a suggestion that more youngsters to participate.
8. Workshop on 'Well Integrity' was organized by OISD on 25th and 26th November 2013. Speakers from ONGC, OIL, RIL, BGEPIL, CAIRN and Transocean presented technical papers on all the facets of 'Well Integrity'. Three expatriate speakers presented papers on 'Well integrity system', 'Sustained casing Pressure Management' and 'API Standard 53'. Feedback from the participants has been very positive with 90% participants rating the workshop as excellent.
9. Under the MOU between OISD and Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement (BSEE), Department of Interior, USA, a team of experts from BSEE, and OISD discussed from 18th to 20th January 2012 on structures uprightness in offshore installations and technical variations in regulatory requirements and areas for future cooperation.
10. Interactive Workshop on Safety Critical Issues in Onland E&P Operations was organized on 23rd September, 2011 for E&P Pvt. / JV operators. Issues emerged during the external safety audits by OISD (well control training and rig equipment verification; health assessment of equipment in production installations; managing contractors operations through bridging document; risk assessment study; and work permit system) were deliberated in the workshop.
11. Workshop on 'Asset integrity in E&P Sector' was organized by OISD on 24-25th February, 2011. Focus was on asset integrity management challenges, and tools used by companies with case studies. Experts from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation & Enforcement (BOEMRE), USA participated and provided the prevailing international practices.
12. Workshop on "Offshore Safety" was conducted by OISD on 25th and 26th February, 2010 in association with Minerals Management Service (MMS), Department of the Interior, USA. The workshop focused on bringing out critical safety issues and MMS provided the prevailing international practices and in particular to the Gulf of Mexico, USA."
13. Seven OISD officers visited MMS, USA in February, 2009 for ability building, knowledge sharing and developing regulatory setup for offshore safety.
14. "Risk Based Safety Management" workshop was organized for the industry in December, 2008.

New / Revision code of practices

• OISD-STD-184 : Standard On Replacement of Personal Protective Equipment and Lifesaving Appliances.
• OISD-RP-205 : Crane operations, Maintenance and testing(for upstream)
• OISD-RP-242 : Recommended practices for Drilling and Testing of HPHT wells