Safety and Security in the Gas and Oilfield Industry - Research Paper Example

Safety and Security in the Gas and Oilfield Industry Gas and oil is one among the leading global business industries that are requiring total and security management. Experts contended that as exploration and drilling endeavors are undertaken in challenging geographic locations, the industry’s management is also confronting the necessities strategizing its security measures and control from threats and the like that could weaken its operation. Security risks is indeed a must as gas and oil operation are now undertaken in remote zones of Algeria, Bolivia, the Caspian region, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Venezuela. To reckon, there were a hundred of foreign hostages at Nigeria working for an oil company in its four rigs when labor disputes heightened in a May 2003 election. The war between Israelites and Palestine, albeit dealt for peaceful negotiation by the United Nations have also security implications for multinational oil companies operating in the region. In some regions inhabited by rebel and extremist groups, oil and gas companies are target of terroristic attacks and exaction of money by rebel groups with the aim of weakening its operation. Trim and Caravelli (2009) explained that strategizing for security management will help develop resiliency and reduce vulnerabilities among gas and oil industry. This can be undertaken by developing a blueprint of national and corporate security, intelligence effort, and disaster/emergency planning enforcement. Trim and Caravelli (2009) professed that there are wide range of perspectives, disciplines, and mechanism that can be optimized by security managers but these certainly require human resources composed of security and intelligence experts, law enforcers, disaster and emergency managers, good relation with policy makers, networking with police and military enforcers, and good correlation with civil society and the academe. The strategy will also include counter terrorism strategies and hence require national security strategists, security management reform and comprehensive security evaluation and planning which is also attuned to disaster and emergency management policies and practices (Trim and Caravelli, 2009). Advocacy for disarmament and demobilization It is presupposed that oil and gas development is a major contribution for economic boom in a country. Oil and gas companies must partner with domestic government for disarmament and demobilization in the country where there are active extremist and rebel groups fighting against the government (Trim and Caravelli, 2009). It can also, in fact, support government in its campaign for peaceful negotiations with dissidents to reduce political strife and economic tension in the region. It is also crucial that proponent of exploration must negotiate for development of oil and gas fields diplomatically, peacefully and within the legal bounds accorded by law (Trim and Caravelli, 2009). This way, gas and oil field development will be depoliticized and the utilization of these resources will be situated in a better perspective to avoid conflict of interests and political machination (Trim and Caravelli, 2009). Security deployment, management and infotech It is very important that the oil and gas industry must be able to hire security expert that are skilled in community relation, threat mapping, and good coordinator with domestic security officials. Industrial policy must also be develop for security management, such as limiting access to classified sensitive zones specially the rigs site and workers movement should likewise be informed of these limitation (Trim and Caravelli, 2009). Security data must also be safe-kept in a database for control and wise use. Security management will include stand alone issues to the most complicated property protection or dealing with the safety of the employees. Information technology can assist the security personnel in monitoring the movement of people and the properties, such as using remote camera to easily contain possible damages. Research studies opined that terrorist attack usually hold on to oil and gas pipelines has reached about 55% of incurred damages in 2007 (Deady, 2009). Security experts opined that pipelines are often the popular target of terrorist group such as what has transpired in Iraq, Pakistan,Nigeria, Algeria, India and Russia (Deady, 2009). The meaning of these attacks could vary. This could either be attack to communicate their disagreement to western offshore development within other country; or they are exacting a substantial amount of rebel tax from the management of the industry; or, just to employ serious damaged to the companies operation and to the nation, the infliction of which can be considered as temporary victory of armed men oppose to the industry (Deady, 2009). To prevent this from happening or at least to provide expedient response in case of attacks, some gas and oil company use pro-security software for realtime control and management to its command and intelligence center. Thales, a security management company, for instance, provides solutions for secure encryption to protect data over SCADA communication links that are vital in securing and protecting infrastructures (Deady, 2009). Through it, intrusion is easily detected using hyper-frequency sensors associated to fences. Video surveillance camera along strategic site of the pipeline can provide real time situation and digitized record of events to control the stations’ security (Deady, 2009). Security managers must also establish a security operation center. The latter is the main control of all interrelated events and data within the oil and gas industry (Deady, 2009). The company must also conduct regularly the security risk assessment and must develop secured communication facilities as well as network data protection. Attuned to information technology advancement, the company can use fibre-optic sensors and high-capacity video recorder (Deady, 2009). Counterintelligence and Corporate Security Management Corporate security manager must be engaged in counterintelligence activities too. This means that they should be skilled in research and data gathering too using context and accurate resources to repress plans and marginalize transnational terrorist who are known to be involved in the development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and involved in asymmetric warfare (Deady, 2009). They should be more expert than the foreign intelligence services, terrorists, foreign criminal groups, and skilled on cyber intrusion detection (both in nascent and latent activities used in undermining corporate security interests) (Deady, 2009). Part of the counter intelligence measure is winning the heart of the community or country where offshore oil and gas operation is undertaken. This means that the company must exercise diplomatic corporate social responsibility (CSR) to promote and uphold better relation with the community, especially those that are directly affected by the company’s operation (Deady, 2009). This can be done by supporting community’s development plan, by providing scholarship, supplementing health services, and other socialization activities that can hasten better community relation (Deady, 2009). Experts opined that any disregard to counter terrorism efforts will cost damaging consequences and devastating counter intelligence failures that will jeopardize the significant information, infrastructures, and company operations (Deady, 2009). Authorities argued that counterintelligence should be integrated to corporate and industrial security using rigorous policy, adoption of some security principles, standard performance management and use of technology for policy or operational priorities so that accurate information can provide sufficient guide for security decision-makers (Deady, 2009). Enforcing total quality control for gas and oil industry Oil and gas industry is regulated by laws and quality standard in its operation. Safety of the workers and the industry is the most paramount standard. It also requires quality management that are attuned to ISO 9000:2000 quality management system (Business Management Services, 2012). This refers to the capacity of oil and gas corporate capacity toimplement and audit ISO quality management system to ensure that its human resources are quality professionals or are licensed engineers, directors, managers, representatives and operational technical staffs (Business Management Services, 2012). Through this standard, the management are tasked to comply on creating policies, procedures and work instructions—including performance audit and organizational development (Business Management Services, 2012). This standard also requires company to document its operations, performances, and evaluations to ensure quality management system. An industry that has complied to these regulations and standards are likely to promote industrial peace and quality performance management (Business Management Services, 2012). All of its human resources should have qualified for ISO trainings, systems control, methods, contamination control, and quality control of products. They should have clearly outlined its case studies, scenarios, and action plan to make the company attain high level of proficiency in quality assurance and control (Business Management Services, 2012). When all tasks and system are strictly adhered, there is less vulnerability and distractions that may hinder completion of tasks, except of course when there are hindering factors introduced by the environment. Another quality system that should be implemented within gas and oil industry is the standard upheld by the ISO 9001:2000 for quality management system (Business Management Services, 2012). This ISO requires the organization to demonstrate consistent skill in meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirement for customer satisfaction and to illustrate conformity to customer and applicable regulatory requirements (Business Management Services, 2012). This is consistent to international standard and generic service requirement (Business Management Services, 2012). The industry must also promote quality management best practices to equipped all stakeholders of comprehensive understanding of the development and application of quality management techniques using international quality standards and other quality initiatives for better industrial practices for excellence, benchmarking and modeling (as a complimentary mechanism to other existing industry) (Business Management Services, 2012). Engaging Extractive Industry to Market Changes The oil and gas market are always dealing with the continuing reform in the oil and gas industry. This means that the company must also conduct redesigning of its market relations to attain competitive natural gas pricing, efficiency gains, and gas supply security. The company needs to be sensitive too to the effects of regulation-for-competition in gas transportation and other significant commodity measures in correlation to economic performance, natural gas pricing, network tariffs, efficiency gains, and investments for infrastructure. Aside from this development, the global community is calling for a green and cleaner ecology in this millennium. The challenge is for the oil and gas extractive industry to be sensitive too to the call of groups to make this industry eco-friendly. The extractive industry is known to be producing pollution to air and water. Leakage and disasters of tankers in the oceans and shores have caused alarming interests among ecologist as this has consequently caused for the death fish and fauna in the seas and the emission of pollution to air has exacerbated concerns on ecological protectionism. It is therefore vital for oil and gas companies to attune its operation to ecological protection consciousness to ensure that the industry, as a resource extractive one, will also be responsible in contributing for the protection of the environment. The oil and gas companies must therefore sustain its flexible adaptability to market relations using effective performance management (PM). Management can also enjoin the participation of employee’s in performance management to create the ideals of fairness based on labor standards. PM provide logical and sequential management of workers’ affairs and is expected to produce more positive outcome. If organizationally acculturated, it can develop itself to become resilient to diverse challenges and changes in the market. The company can also develop relations with the bureaucracy where its operating for security enhancement. This can be done by raising its corporate voice through policy makers and opening web-based windows where there best practices, successes and challenges are transparently publicized. Managers must also welcome cultural diversity business operations leverage. Maintaining open communication and enjoining workers to take part in performance management can reduce potential management barriers (Cardy & Carson, 1996). Legal issues must be consistently addressed by the company while managers should be involved in policy-advocacy too to ascertain that business operations can be undertaken with less bureaucratic maze and of reasonable ease (Cardy & Carson, 1996). Business Strategizing for Industrial Peace Figure 2. Porter’s Force of Analysis. (Mindtools, 2012). Breach of security and making security issues more predictable is very possible if the organization adopts a clear vision, mission and goals of the company. The business plan developed using logical framework in order for workers and management to easily determine the situation of the company. Evaluation should be undertaken regularly to improve coordination, operation and human resource relation with management. Using models of analysis, the company may adopt Porter Business Analysis. The Porter's Five Forces tool help determine the power relations within business situation (Mindtools. 2012). Its conventional use is technically to determine the correlation and opportunities of products and services (Mindtools. 2012). It illuminates the power of industrial relation by mapping the variegated aspects of business relations. The five significant forces are supplier power in driving prices of their indorsed products; the buyers’ power to drive prices down; the competition and rivalry in the market; and the threat of substitution or the capacity of the customer to seek for alternative products of the same quality but of lesser prices (Mindtools. 2012). The fifth force is threat of new entry that can possibly weaken that supposed favorable company’s position in the market. Sustained creation of opportunity for seminars, trainings, corporate leadership, business management, customer satisfaction, and financial management are crucial for organizational and industrial security. The oil and gas industry require required experts and competent staffs to sustain the organization at its targeted goals. These skilled staffs are instrument to coach and mentor new workers. As specialists, they can respond to issues and problems of the organization with ease and integrity, thus, can coach them intelligently (Buchner, 2007). They can also better relate with the community as they are presumed to be skilled in relational nurturing. The industry’s human resource office must be articulate this need by deliberately maximizing expert human resources and skilled consultants to attain competitive leverage in the marketplace and with the nation where explorations and drilling are undertaken (DeNisi & Pritchard, 2006; Dewettinck & Van Dijk,2009). HR programs and plans must reasonably attune its policies to the sensitive constructs in managing employees intelligently. References Buchner, T.W. (2007). Performance Management Theory: A Look from the Performer’s Perspective with Implications for HRD, Human Resource Development International, 10:59-73. Cardy, R. L., and Carson, K. P. (1996). Total quality and the abandonment of performance appraisal: Taking a good thing too far? Journal of Quality Management, vol. 1 , pp. 193–206. Deady, J. (2009). 21st Century Counterintelligence. Intelligence and Counterintelligence Studies. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., United States. pp. 1-78. DeNisi, A.S. and Pritchard, R.D. (2006). Performance Appraisal, Performance Management and Improving Individual Performance: A Motivational Framework’, Management and Organization Review, vol. 2:253-77 Dewettinck, K. & Van Dijk, H., (2009). Linking employee performance management system characteristics with performance management system effectiveness: exploring the mediating role of fairness. Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2009-23, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, Belgium, Europe. Trim, P. R.J. & Caravelli, J. (2009). Strategizing Resilience and Reducing Vulnerability, Defense, Security and Strategies, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., United States. pp 1-269. Business Management Services (2012). Quality Control and Quality Assurance in Oil and gas Industry. BMS Consultancy Ltd., Web. < http://www.bmsconsultancy.com/content/quality-control-and-quality-assurance-oil-and-gas-industry > Accessed: 5 December 2012. Business Management Services (2012). ISO 9001:2000 Quality management system requirements. BMS Consultancy Ltd., Web. < http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=21823 > Accessed: 5 December 2012. Mindtools (2012). Porter’s Five Forces of Analysis. Mindtools Ltd, London, UK. p. 1. ZhongXiang, Z. (2012). Why Are the Stakes So High? Misconceptions and Misunderstandings in China’s Global Quest for Energy Security. Working Papers 2012.48, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, UK. Read More