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Schlumberger scores high on environmental performance Gets a six on International Environmental Rating System exceeding company’s own goal — quarterly spill rate down 80 percent in 2001 By Steve Sutherlin PNA Managing Editor
Schlumberger Oilfield Services-Alaska has jumped from a May 2000 IERS level three to a level six in 2001, exceeding its goal of level five on its second audit for the International Environmental Rating System, company officials told PNA.
In the process, the company recorded a markedly lower quarterly spill rate in 2001, 80 percent below year 2000 levels.
IERS ratings are independently determined by Det Norske Veritas of Oslo, Norway, and are used to benchmark and measure the development of company environmental programs worldwide. DNV sends a team of auditors to the company for interviews and assessment of the company’s documentation and environmental performance. At the end of the audit DNV awards an overall rating on a scale of zero to 10, and gives the subject company feedback on its program.
An IERS rating of four is equivalent to an ISO 14001 rating, an international standard of environmental performance widely used in the oil industry. Schlumberger wanted to exceed that rating and did, said Ian Sealy, Schlumberger QHSE manager for the Alaska GeoMarket.
“We have a long-term commitment here in Alaska to improving our environmental program,” he said. “We want to position ourselves as one of the leaders in Alaska industrial environmental systems and procedures.”
The company’s new environmental program was designed by a Schlumberger team partially in response to new BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. guidelines and specifications. The company is one of 30 contractors BP has asked to upgrade environmental performance. Schlumberger already had an environmental program in place, but the company wanted to exceed the BP guidelines and it set targets for the second audit accordingly, Sealy said.
Program adopted statewide Sealy initially mapped the company strategy and selected people to implement the program. The group developed a 12-month program to improve environmental performance statewide. Now the procedures are in use on jobs for Phillips Alaska Inc., and for Unocal, Forrest Oil and Marathon Oil Co. in Cook Inlet and Kenai Peninsula operations, both offshore and onshore.
The company addressed three major areas, Sealy said.
First, the company conducted formal assessments of its environmental impact during its regular activities. Impacts were ranked, and added to an improvement and prevention program. The company identified ways to reduce impacts and implemented a systematic plan to put those solutions to work.
Second, the company improved its emergency response programs with better-trained people and more effective procedures.
Third, the company employed an independent consultant to assess compliance with state and federal regulations, with a goal to be completely compliant.
The company developed improved daily and weekly inspections, to better identify problems in its facilities and to implement responses that eliminate the root-causes of these problems. Training has played a major role, and employees are encouraged to take a personal interest in environmental performance.
“Four hundred and twenty-five people in Alaska were trained on their personal responsibilities with respect to the environment in Alaska,” Sealy said. Workers transferring to the state are integrated into the program as a part of their orientation.
The company has documented its improvements and has posted program information on its internal web site for the benefit of the next generation of supervisors and workers in the field. Training videos have been made to specifically address Arctic operations.
The company has also introduced measurements of performance, actively measuring energy use and waste generation in its camps and workshops to identify improvement opportunities. It conducts a thorough analysis of any incidents that result the release of liquids to the environment and then implements corrective action plans.
Schlumberger nationwide benefits from Alaska experience “The systems developed in Alaska have been exported to the Lower 48; the Schlumberger organization in the Lower 48 and the Gulf of Mexico have implemented programs based on what we have developed here,” Sealy said. “The Schlumberger organization in North America has benefited from our experience.”
The company will continue to refine its environmental approach in 2002 and 2003, and will commit to maintain its levels of excellence, Sealy said. A full-time environmental coordinator position has been created to oversee the program. The company is currently setting new goals for environmental performance, bearing in mind that as the company advances in the IRES program, each successive level is progressively harder to achieve. Improvement will take effort by management and workers alike.
“People want to participate in a program that has a positive impact on the environment; in actual fact, people recognize that the oil industry needs to be seen as environmentally responsible and people in the field have a part to play in that.”
The company will support the program with resources, money and people, recognizing that it takes the entire package to maintain and improve upon the success, Sealy said, adding, “There’s no magic bullet.”
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