Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

D E C E M B E R

2 0 1 1

NEWSLETTER
IN THIS EDITION

The members of the NOGEPA Secretariat wish you a

Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year.

NOGEPA: the recognized voice of

the Dutch Oil & Gas Exploration
and Production Industry
Ruud Zoon, Managing
Director of GDF SUEZ
E&P Nederland B.V.,
was appointed Vice
Chairman of NOGEPA
in November 2010.
A year later, on
1 November 2011,
he assumed the role
of Chairman of the
Association:
NOGEPA, the Netherlands
Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production Association
Bezuidenhoutseweg 27-29
P.O. Box 11729
2502 AS The Hague
Phone: +31 70 3478871
Fax: +31 70 385123
E-mail: info@nogepa.nl

I am honoured and pleased to take up the

position of Chairman, and consider it a great
challenge to promote a positive business
environment and stimulate E&P activities.
NOGEPA is the collective voice of the Dutch
upstream oil & gas industry, and the Managing
Directors of the member companies sit on
the Associations Executive Committee. The
Chairman, Vice Chairman and Treasurer
are elected during the annual General
Assembly. The most important challenge
for our organisation at the present time is
to make sure the E&P Industry continues to
operate responsibly and safely and to meet
the increasing demands of society and our
member companies.
As Chairman of NOGEPA, I will continue to
focus on maintaining the highest possible
level of safety awareness and the most

NOGEPAs Media Campaign

New Safety Standards proposed

by European Commission for
offshore oil and gas operations

NOREX Large Scale

Emergency Exercise

NOGEPA recognized
doctors list 2012-2015

Bram van Mannekes

Gert-Jan Windhorst
Cees van Oosterom
Rein Hillen
Aart Tacoma
Jelto Terpstra
Helma Cruts
John McGrane

Personal Column
Ruud Zoon (1960), CEO of GDF SUEZ
E&P Nederland, is recently appointed as
President of NOGEPA, the Netherlands
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
Association. He takes over from Gilbert
van den Brink. Jim Craig (1968),
Regional Director of Centrica Production
Nederland b.v., is appointed as VicePresident of NOGEPA.
In the second quarter of 2012, the
current Secretary-General of NOGEPA,
Bram van Mannekes, will be taking
retirement. The process of selecting a
successor has already started. If you are
interested in the position, please contact
Jan.Alberdingk.Thijm@russellreynolds.
com for further information.

NEWSLETTER

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

DECEMBER

2011

NOGEPA: the recognized voice of the Dutch

Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Industry
stringent safety standards, and to seek any
improvements that may prove necessary.
The second focal point is the role of natural
gas in the energy mix and its contribution to
society. I believe that more attention should
be paid to the important role that natural
gas plays in our economy. Natural gas is the
cleanest fossil fuel, an important contributor to
our energy mix and an indispensable transition
fuel as we move towards renewable energy.

produce Dutch gas for many more years to

come. As an industry organisation, we are
participating in an active dialogue with the
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and
Innovation, TNO and EBN to look at ways to
provide a further stimulus for exploration,
marginal field development and tail-end
production. We are also looking into how we
can ensure public support for our activities,
which will prove essential for doing business in
our highly populated country.

Promoting our industry through constructive

and proactive communication and engagement
with the Dutch government, the State
Supervision of Mines, NGOs, and the general
public is very much on my list of priorities.

NOGEPAs success depends on the efforts and

the commitment of its member companies. We
will focus on constructive, open, transparent
and proactive communication on all aspects of
our activities.

The third focal point for NOGEPA will be

the Dutch governments Small Fields Policy
and, more specifically, how we can maintain
an attractive investment climate in the
Netherlands to ensure we can explore and

During the next years, I very much hope I

can contribute towards securing NOGEPAs
excellent reputation as a strong, visible and
reliable industry organisation.

NOGEPAs Media Campaign

The December 2011
edition of Aardgas
Update is dedicated
to the lessons learned
from the Gulf of
Mexico incident and
explaining the findings
and outcomes of
the various working
groups.

Jelto Terpstra

Scenario: After a detailed review of the

incident itself, the question of whether this
accident could happen in the Netherlands
is raised. In brief, Jan de Jong of the State
Supervision of Mines (SODM) states that the
situation in our country is not comparable
due to operational and environmental
differences and emphasises the excellent
Dutch regulations and procedures. Finally,
he expounds the good cooperation between
all Dutch E&P parties involved in the process
and resulting in the positive outcome of the
various working groups.
Several graphics illustrate the differences
between operations in the Gulf of Mexico
and the North Sea. Nevertheless, the E&P
industry has taken its responsibility seriously.
All recommendations from the working
groups are explained, including training and
competence, technical standards, clear action
roles and procedures in case of an accident
and more.

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER

2011

NOGEPAs Media Campaign

Willy Oude Essink (NAM Schoonebeek
simulator) explains in detail the training
course. Ben Waardenburg (GDF SUEZ) refers
to the standardisation of guidelines and
well design. After stressing the need for
exercises, Cees van Oosterom wraps-up with
the continued need for cooperation between
operators and contractors to ensure a high
level of safety standards in the North Sea.
www.aardgas-update.nl

New Safety Standards proposed

by European Commission for
offshore oil and gas operations
In order to reduce the
risk of accidents like
happened with the
Macondo well in the
Gulf of Mexico, the
European Commission
has proposed new
legislation in the form
of a regulation.

These new rules will create a European

standard for the offshore oil industry in
all member states of the EU. In terms of
substance, a lot of matters proposed are
already in place in accordance with the local
regulations imposed by member states with
operations in the North Sea, and further
improvements originating from the postMacondo investigations are also being
implemented.
By proposing a regulation rather than a
directive, the industry fears that the carefully
developed HSE framework currently in
place could be damaged and replaced by a

Gert-Jan Windhorst

rigid onesize-fits-all solution. It should be

remembered that the tailor-made national
solutions developed over the years have
contributed greatly to the high standards in
place. At the moment, the various industry
associations are studying the proposals to
assess whether the new bureaucratic burdens
imposed will build on the current safety
standards present in the North Sea, and not
merely replace the current good practice.
NOGEPA is also taking part in this dialogue,
both directly with the State Supervision of
Mines (SODM) and the Ministry of Economic
Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, but also
in Brussels through OGP, the International
Association of Oil & Gas Producers.
The latest edition of NOGEPAs AardgasUpdate is fully dedicated to the lessons
learned from Macondo.
Please visit www.aardgas-update.nl.
3

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

NOREX Large Scale

Emergency Exercise

NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER

2011

Cees van Oosterom

Always being prepared

for the unexpected is
part of the culture in the
oil and gas producing
industry. The lessons
from the Macondo well
accident in the Gulf of
Mexico only reinforced
this.

Our industry has a long-standing practice

of conducting emergency exercises with
the Dutch Coastguard, State Supervision of
Mines (SODM), Rijkswaterstaat North Sea
Directorate and numerous other parties who
would normally provide assistance in the
event of an offshore emergency.
The NOREX table-top emergency exercise,
jointly organised by the industry and the
authorities and conducted on 17 November,
added another dimension to it as it involved
mobilising the following parties:
GDF SUEZ Emergency Response Team
Dutch Coastguard
RBN (Regionaal Beheersteam
Noordzeerampen Regional North Sea
Emergencies Management Team)
Rijkswaterstaat North Sea Crisis Team
GDF SUEZ volunteered to host the exercise.
The offshore oil and gas producer and the
three other organisations listed would have
to deal with a major emergency involving

the Dutch offshore industry. Holding joint

exercises is essential as the various parties
need to learn what they can expect from each
other. As each of these four players operates
from their own locations, optimisation
of communications and communication
resources is an important aspect.
The exercise involved a large tanker loaded
with heavy crude oil deviating from its course
and colliding with an offshore drilling rig,
which at the time was testing a gas discovery.
The disaster included: a damaged tanker
spilling crude oil, a damaged drilling rig, a
damaged gas well which is no longer under
control, people in the sea needing rescue and
injured people.
The resulting actions included:
Rescue of people and provision of medical
treatment
Having to deal with a gas well which was
on fire
Having to deal with media and relatives
To give an extra dimension to the process
of tackling a well which is no longer under
control, Nobel Drilling and Wild Well Control
also played an active part in the exercise.
Overall the exercise went well and numerous
lessons were learned. Because people and
organisations change over time, it is important
that such exercises are repeated regularly to
ensure that any offshore emergency is dealt
within in the best way possible.
The plan to put what was learned from the
design of a live offshore emergency exercise
into practice is scheduled for June 2012.

Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association

NOGEPA recognized
doctors list 2012-2015

The NOGEPA recognized doctors list

includes the names of 250 doctors across
four countries: the Netherlands, Germany,
Belgium and the United Kingdom. A
significant number of the doctors on
the list have their practices at sea ports,
including Den Helder and Rotterdam in
the Netherlands, as well as Hamburg,
Antwerp and Southampton. However, the
inland areas are also well represented with
practices in all twelve Dutch provinces.
As mentioned at the annual NOGEPA doctors
meeting, NOGEPA conducts a review every
three years of the doctors recognised to
carry out medicals for personnel working on

NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER

2011

John McGrane

offshore mining installations. The present

three-year recognition period ends on
31 December this year. A majority of the
doctors on the list have re-applied and are
in the process of receiving their letter of
recognition and a new personal stamp with
a new number for the coming period which
runs from 01-01-2012 till 31-12-2014.
If you would like to re-apply, please consult
our website www.nogepa.nl and in the
Health section, you will find the application
forms both in Dutch and English, or send
your application, which you received by
e-mail to as@nogepa.nl.

Disclaimer newsletter NOGEPA has taken the greatest of care to ensure the accuracy of the contents of the e-mail newsletter, but is not
liable for any inaccuracies, omissions, or errors whether in respect of the information provided in the e-mail newsletter. The information
in the newsletter may only be used by readers for their own purposes. Permission must be obtained from NOGEPA for any other use.