PRESS STATEMENT
Lagos, Nigeria – Oando Energy Services Limited (“OESL”), an Oando PLC subsidiary and Nigeria’s leading indigenous operator of swamp drilling rigs services announced that it achieved a milestone of two years drilling operations without Loss Time Injury (LTI) on its flagship rig, known as OES Integrity, one of its four rigs on Tuesday, 8th August, 2011.
LTI is a measure of injury sustained on the job that is capable of preventing a worker from performing or continuing with a task or resulting in a downtime in the operation. It is an oil and gas industry benchmark that evaluates adherence to safety and environmental requirements in the course of operations. Oil and gas industry is reputed for its volatility, it is therefore required that exemplary and strict observance of all safety and environmental codes are observed. The concept is therefore a critical Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the company which conforms to the industry best practices.
OES Integrity swamp rig was contracted to a leading international oil company in December 2009 and has successfully drilled, completed and worked over more than 10 wells in the course of the campaign, without any show-stopping incident. The rig is a 3,000 hp modern swamp barge equipped with 15,000 psi Blowout Preventers (BOP) and designed to drill High Pressure/ High Temperature (HPHT) wells to depths of 30,000 ft. OES Integrity is the only swamp rig in Nigeria, capable of drilling, exploration, appraisal, HPHT and challenging development wells.
The safety record and the high quality of the rig combine to make it an exceptional drilling platform. It comes with special features that keep it technologically ahead of other conventional rigs. Unlike most conventional rigs that require the driller to manually drill and hold the brake during drilling operations, OES Integrity auto drilling capabilities allow for the option of automating the drilling process. As a result, the driller can set the trip-in rate for example at 5 feet per minute and the drilling operation runs on its own.
Safety is the hallmark of any upstream operation, commenting on the achievement, Mr. Uche Dimiri, Chief Executive Officer, OESL said “The health and safety of our employees and those visiting our workplace are of utmost importance at Oando PLC. We believe we have an obligation to ensure that all employees are aware and have imbibed the Oando culture of uncompromised safety and environment protection. Our goal is to be exemplary in the sub-Saharan Africa oil and gas operations in terms of safety and environmental-friendliness”.
Commenting further, Mr. Dimiri added “We are happy with this safety milestone, which is the hallmark of any upstream operation. It is a testament to a collective effort of our employees in the implementation of a robust environment, health, safety and quality management systems. We have demonstrated our ability to safely deliver oil wells to our clients without hurting people or harming the environment.”
Oando PLC has vibrant policies and procedures covering product quality, safety, environment, health, security and emergency readiness to ensure that all its operations meet international safety requirements. The company is very keen on safety and in an effort to inculcate a strong Environment, Health, Safety, (EHSSQ) culture amongst its employees, training, regulatory certifications and a “stop work” policy where employees on the rig are empowered to stop work if they observe an unsafe condition is imbibed. An annual Safety Week is also held companywide to deepen awareness and strengthen an incidence-free work life culture, which has become imperative following the company’s expansion into the entire energy spectrum.
Recently, two Oando’s subsidiaries, Oando Supply & Trading and Oando Exploration & Production received the ISO 9001:2008 presented by the Standard Organisation of Nigeria for their exemplary quality and safety standards. They join Oando Marketing PLC and Oando Gas and Power to bring the number of Oando entities with ISO 9001:2008 to four, as aforementioned subsidiaries are earlier recipients of the international certification.
Oando PLC’s emphasis on quality and safety is driven by emphasis of proactive risk management and the implementation of best practices to create a strong basis for optimal performance on a global scale.
Ends
