Risk information for operational decision-making in the offshore oil and gas industry

Abstract

Operational planning decisions, which are characterized by relatively short time lag between decision and implementation, have received little attention in risk and safety research in offshore oil and gas industry. The overarching objective of the paper is to find out how to provide good risk information for such decisions. The discussion starts from description of what good risk information is, followed by a proposal to use Activity consequence risk (ACR) – the effect that performing an activity will have on the risk level after the activity has been completed; Activity performance risk (APR) – the risk associated with performing the action; and Period risk (PR) – risk for a plant or facility over a period of time, to structure a complete risk picture. A simplified example is given to show how the proposed criteria can assist in providing better risk information. Challenges to provide such information are thoroughly discussed. The main conclusion is that current practices in the industry lack the accuracy and capability to provide such a risk picture.