Foreign Regulators, Industry Experts and Labor Representatives to Testify in Day-long Meeting in Washington, DC

Newswise — Who and What:

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent federal agency charged with investigating chemical accidents, will hold a public hearing Wednesday, December 15, 2010, as part of its ongoing investigation into the causes of the BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and fire which occurred on April 20, 2010, killing eleven workers.

“Regulatory Approaches to Offshore Oil and Gas Safety”

Where & When: 9 am - 5 pm Wednesday, December 15, 2010 Embassy Suites Hotel – Ballroom 1250 22nd Street NW (between M and N Streets) Washington, DC

Webcast: Watch meeting on www.CSB.gov

News Conference: There will be a break in the program for a news conference at approximately 11 a.m. CSB investigators, CSB Board Members, and panel members will be available during the news conference and throughout the day for interviews.

Background:

At this hearing, the CSB Board will gather information on how offshore oil and gas drilling is managed and regulated in other countries. 

The data will be considered in the ongoing CSB investigation into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and fire, and will help inform the board’s safety recommendations that will result from the investigation.

Additionally, the CSB will examine this information in light of other significant CSB energy sector investigations and recommendations including the 2005 BP Texas City accident investigation done by the CSB.

Agenda:

The hearing will consist of testimony from three panels featuring leading safety experts from regulatory authorities, industry and unions involved in oil and gas exploration and production safety operations:

Morning session:

Regulatory Panel

•Ian Whewell – retired Director of Offshore Division, United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive •Magne Ognedal – Director-General, Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority•John Clegg - retired CEO, Australian National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority

Industry Panel

•Erik Milito - Director of Upstream and Industry Operations, American Petroleum Institute •Joe Leimkuhler - Offshore Well Delivery Manager, Shell Oil •Ole Preben Berget - Vice President Operations USA and Mexico E&P, Statoil •Alan Spackman - Vice President, Offshore Technical and Regulatory Affairs, International Association of Drilling Contractors•Dr. Robin Pitblado - Director of SHE Risk Management Services, DNV TBA, ABS Consulting

Union Panel •Mike Wright - Director, Health Safety and Environment, United Steelworkers •Roy Erling Furre - Representative, Norwegian Union of Energy Workers•Glenn Trimmer - USW Local 4959, Alaska•Fritz Guenther - President, USW Local 4959, Alaska

BIOS OF PANELISTS ARE LISTED BELOW About the CSB: (See www.CSB.gov for background on the agency, and information on all current and completed investigations as well as safety videos. The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety management systems. The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Please visit our website, www.CSB.gov. For more information, contact:

Hillary Cohen, Director of Public Affairs, 202-261-3601, cell 202-446-8094, [email protected]

Amy McCormick, Public Affairs Specialist, 202.261.7630, cell 202-640-8945, [email protected]

Sandy Gilmour, Public Affairs Support, 202-261-7614 or cell 202-251-5496, [email protected]

Ashley McDaniel, Public Affairs Support, 202.261.7614[email protected]

BIOGRAPHIES OF PANELISTS (Available for interviews on site)

Ian WhewellIan Whewell is a Chartered Engineer and until his retirement in October 2009 was a Member of the Institution of Engineering Technology. He graduated in Metallurgy from Manchester University. After a period as a production engineer in the motor industry, in 1974, he joined the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as an Inspector of Factories. In that role he regulated health and safety standards in a wide range of industries including chemicals, engineering, and foundries. His subsequent work on promotion as a Principle Inspector included the management of a team responsible for major hazards, chemical and petrochemical industries in Eastern England. In 1993 he joined HSE’s newly formed Offshore Division (OSD) at the HSE’s London headquarters to work on the development of the new offshore legislation being developed to implement the recommendations made by the Cullen Inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster. In 1995 Ian was promoted to Operations Manager where he managed one of the OSD Operational Units based in Aberdeen whose role was to regulate the health and safety performance offshore industry and was also responsible for the development of OSD's inspection and enforcement strategies. He became Deputy Director of OSD In 2000 and in January 2006 he became Director of the Offshore Division of HSE’s Hazardous Installations Directorate a post he held until his retirement.

Magne Ognedal Magne is an internationally recognized authority on offshore safety and regulatory policy.  He has been a leader of the International Regulators’ Forum since its inception in 1994, has assisted governments with emerging offshore energy programs, and served as program and steering committee chair for major international conferences.   He was recently appointed by the King’s cabinet to a second 6-year term as Director General.

John CleggJohn Clegg is a physicist and a control systems engineer. He spent 26 years working for the UK Health and Safety Executive. For the majority of that time he was a regulator of major hazard industries, both onshore and offshore.  He helped set up the Offshore Safety Division in the HSE following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. He helped establish the offshore safety case regime, negotiated the move from prescription to duty of care with the industry and trade unions and drafted regulations and supporting technical guidance. Following a review of health and safety regulation in the Australian offshore petroleum industry in 2000, he was recruited by the Australian Federal Government in 2004 as CEO to set up and run a modern, best practice regulator administering a safety case regime.

Erik MilitoErik Milito is the Director of Upstream and Industry Operations for the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is the national trade association representing more than 400 companies involved in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, including exploration production, refining and transportation. Mr. Milito’s work covers regulatory and legislative matters related to domestic exploration and production, including access to domestic oil and natural gas resources both onshore and offshore. Prior to his current position, Mr. Milito served as managing counsel covering a host of issues, including oil and gas leasing, royalty, environmental, fuels, transportation, safety, and civil justice reform. Prior to joining API, Mr. Milito served for over four years on active duty in the U.S. Army as a judge advocate, and additional four years in the U.S. Army Reserve, resigning at the rank of Major. Mr. Milito was assigned to active duty tours in Hawaii, Korea and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and he served as a prosecutor, defense attorney and command advisor. After leaving the Army, Mr. Milito worked as a career attorney with the Solicitor’s Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Joe LeimkuhlerJoe Leimkuhler is an offshore well delivery manager for Shell Upstream Americas, covering all TLP, Platform, and Jack-Up based offshore well operations in the Americas. Leimkuhler’s prior assignments with Shell have included subsea development manager for the Gulf of Mexico and deepwater drilling superintendent on TLP, drillship, and semi-submersible well operations. Prior to taking on a management role, Leimkuhler served as the project drilling engineer for the Mars development in the Gulf of Mexico and as an instructor at Shell’s Bellaire Research Center in Houston. Leimkuhler is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, serves on Petroleum Engineering advisory boards for the University of Wyoming and Montana Tech, is chair of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Technical Symposium, and is the past president of the American Association of Drilling Engineers.

Ole Preben Berget Mr. Berget is Statoil’s Vice President for offshore operations in the United States and Mexico. He is an experienced leader and has held a variety of management positions in Statoil since joining the company in 1992. Mr. Berget moved to Texas in 2008 to take over the Statoil’s offshore operations in Houston. Current responsibilities are for producing assets, logistics, procurement, permitting and preparation for operations. Mr. Berget has had a long career with Statoil. Before moving to Houston, he was Platform Manager for the Statfjord C platform in the North Sea. He has also had responsible for the 3 billion USD redevelopment of the Statfjord Field for 3 years. Mr. Berget has earlier worked a period with asset follow up and business development in Venezuela. He started off his career working for the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate for 7 years. Mr. Berget has a M.S degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Norwegian Technical Institute in Trondheim Norway (1983).

Alan SpackmanAlan Spackman joined IADC in 1991 and serves IADC’s Vice President of Offshore Technical and Regulatory Affairs. His duties with IADC involve participation in many industry standards setting committees and responding to numerous international regulatory proposals as well as those at national and state levels. He serves as IADC’s principal representative to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with maritime safety and environmental issues, The International Seabed Authority, a specialized agency of the United Nations with jurisdiction over activities on the seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and The International Standardization Organization’s Technical Committee 67 on standardization in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries. Mr. Spackman is also a member of the Shipping Coordinating Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of State on matters relating to Shipping and the Oceans. He is a 1970 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy and received his Masters degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1975. He retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 1991 with the rank of Commander, having served as a shipboard engineer and in various assignments within the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety and Environmental Protection programs.

Dr. Robin PitbladoRobin Pitblado is a chemical engineer with 35 years experience starting at a refinery complex and then moving to consultancy services for safety health and environment.  He is currently DNV’s global director for SHE Risk Management Services and in this role he is responsible for the complete set of methods, data and software deployed globally.  He has carried out many risk assessments and safety management projects around the world.  He has led six major accident investigations, most of those for offshore installations. He is an expert in LNG risks and was an invited expert on the US Government GAO LNG panel. He has published widely, including co-authoring or editing 3 books, most recently in 2010 a textbook on LNG Risk Based safe

Mike WrightMike Wright is the Director of Health, Safety and Environment for the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union. The USW represents 850,000 members in the USA, Canada, and the Caribbean. Mike is a former member of the Department of Labor’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health and EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, and a current member of NIOSH’s Mine Health Research Advisory Committee. Mike has worked extensively on international health, safety and environment issues with the International Labour Organization and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. He has taught safety and health in Zimbabwe, India, Brazil, Poland, and Russia. He was a member of an international team that investigated the Bhopal disaster. He is a former member of the Program Advisory Committee of the International Program on Chemical Safety, set up under the ILO, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Environment Program. He also served on the international coordinating group overseeing the effort to harmonize chemical classification and labeling systems throughout the world, whose work was completed in 2003.

Roy Erling FurreRoy Erling Furre is the Second Deputy Leader of the Norwegian Union (SAFE). SAFE cworks with he with HSE in the oil industry in Norway. He is a member in several central tripartite forums in the oil industry. Furre worked offshore before he was elected as a fulltime main safety delegate in Scandinavian Service Partner. In 1996 he was elected as an organization secretary working with agreements and organizational matters. Furre started his work with HSE in SAFE in year 2000. SAFE have managed to put high focus on HSE and especially working environment matters in the petroleum industry.Glenn Trimmer & Fritz Guenther Glenn Trimmer is the Secretary Treasurer of United Steelworkers Local 4959 in Alaska.  Mr. Guenther has worked for BP in the Purdue Bay oil fields for over 22 years; his experience in industry also includes fourteen years working for major refinery and petrochemical plants. Fritz Guenther is the Local Union's Chief Steward; he has worked for BP at Prudhoe Bay for over 25 years as a machinist and mechanic.