Effective: Jan 09
Petroleum Development Oman L.L.C.
RESTRICTED Document ID: SP-1012
Feb-09 Filing Key: Business Control
Health Safety Environment & Sustainable Development
Specification for Land Management
User Note:The requirements of this document are mandatory. Non-compliance shall only be authorised by the Document Owner or his Delegate through STEP-OUT approval.
A controlled copy of the current version of this document is on PDO's EDMS. Before making reference to this document, it is the user's responsibility to ensure that any hard copy, or electronic copy, is current. For assistance, contact the Document Custodian or the Document Controller.
Users are encouraged to participate in the ongoing improvement of this document by providing constructive feedback.
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i Document Authorisation
ii Revision History
The following is a brief summary of the 4 most recent revisions to this document. Details of all revisions prior to these are held on file by the issuing department.
Version No. / Date / Author / Scope / RemarksVersion 4.0 / Sep 2007 / Mariana Michael MSE/22
Mohammed Al Shuayli MSE/24 / Updated to reflect current regulatory requirements and re-structuring specification content (see section 1.2)
Version 3.0 / 24/06/02 / Muralee Thummarukdy CSM/22 / Editorial changes. New format.
Version 2.0 / 01/01/01 / Muralee Thumarukdy CSM/22 / New title (previously SP 1012 Site Preparation, Abandonment and Restoration)
Version 1.0 / 1998 / Original version.
iii Related Business Processes
Code / Business Process (EPBM 4.0)iv Related Corporate Management Frame Work (CMF) Documents
The related CMF Documents can be retrieved from the Corporate Business Control Documentation Register TAXI.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i Document Authorisation 3
ii Revision History 4
iii Related Business Processes 4
iv Related Corporate Management Frame Work (CMF) Documents 4
1 Introduction 6
1.1 Purpose 6
1.2 Changes to the Specification 6
2 Scope 7
2.1 Definitions & Abbreviations 7
2.2 Deliverables 7
2.2.1 Records 7
2.2.2 Reports 7
2.3 Responsibility 7
2.4 Performance Monitoring 8
2.5 Review and Improvement 8
2.6 Performance Standards 8
2.7 Performance Execution 9
2.8 Land Transfer 10
2.8.1 Due Environmental Diligence during Land Transfer 10
2.8.2 Legal Assessment 10
2.8.3 Chemical Assessment 11
2.8.4 Responsibility for Initiating Assessments 11
2.8.5 Responsibility for Conducting Assessments 11
2.9 Site Selection and Preparation 12
2.9.1 Site Selection 12
2.9.2 Site Preparation 12
2.10 Site Decommissioning 13
2.10.1 General Requirements 13
2.10.2 Specific Requirements 13
2.11 Landscape Restoration 15
2.11.1 General Requirements 15
3 Appendices 17
3.1 Appendix A Type of Land and their Area in PDOs Operation 17
4 Appendix B Checklist for Due Environmental Diligence Audit 18
4.1 Appendix C Land Custodianship Transfer Form 20
1 Introduction
1.1 Purpose
This Specification describes PDO's minimum requirements for land management in its concession area in order to reduce hazards to human health or minimise environmental harm, which result from PDO’s and PDO’s contractors activities, products or services. The requirements for managing site preparation, abandonment and restoration activities are described.
1.2 Changes to the Specification
The following overall changes have been made:
- The adoption of corporate specification template
- Updating to ensure that all the key requirements emanating from Omani environmental regulations, SIEP GES and International standards to which PDO subscribes are current.
- Additional supporting details contained in the above requirements will be made available in this specification through a direct web-link to the document concerned.
- The intent of a specification is to focus on the specific requirements; hence details of how specifications to be met, which are included in other procedures are removed. Where relevant this information is re-allocated to appropriate. procedures.
2 Scope
This Specification addresses the following activities resulting from PDO activities and PDO contractor activities, products or services:
· Custody transfer of land between Government and PDO, PDO and Contractors, PDO and third-parties and between PDO assets
· Site selection and preparation
· Site abandonment and restoration
· Landscape restoration.
The scope of this Specification does not include the management of assets whose ownership has been transferred from PDO to a third party prior to 01-01-2001.
2.1 Definitions & Abbreviations
ME&CA: Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs
2.2 Deliverables
2.2.1 Records
Records shall be maintained to document site preparation, abandonment and restoration activities. See Appendix A for parameters (refer to CP 122 HSE Management System Manual, Part 2 Chapter 6, section 4).
2.2.2 Reports
Data shall be submitted to the Corporate Environmental Section at each stage of the activity or equivalent (refer to CP 122 HSE Management System Manual, Part 2 Chapter 6, section 4) as specified in Appendix A
Any non-compliance with this Specification shall be notified, investigated and reported per the ‘Non Compliance Report Form’ in CP 122 HSE Management System Manual, Part 2 Chapter 6 section 4.
2.3 Responsibility
Functional Directors
Functional Directors are responsible for ensuring that within their area of responsibility the requirements of this specification are met through effective delegation to Delivery Team Leaders.
Corporate Functional Discipline Heads
Corporate Functional Discipline Heads are responsible for ensuring that the requirements of this Specification are reflected in the documents for which they are responsible.
Exploration Director
Exploration Director is responsible for ensuring that during the acquisition and relinquishment of a concession, a due environmental diligence audit is conducted.
Delivery Team Leaders
Are responsible for ensuring that land transfer, site preparation, abandonment and restoration activities, including contractor activities are managed in accordance with the requirements of this Specification. Land management issues addressed in this Specification shall be:
identified
recorded, as appropriate (refer to Section 2.2.1)
reported, as appropriate (refer to Section 2.2..2)
In the event that circumstances prevent compliance with this Specification, Delivery Team Leaders shall seek the advice and if necessary, a ‘step-out approval’ from the Document Owner. This approval requires recording subject areas, which do not conform as a non-compliance (refer to the ‘Non Compliance Report Form CP 122 HSE Management System Manual, Part 2 Chapter 6).
Corporate Environment Section
Is responsible for assisting in the performance of all environmental due diligence surveys performed on PDO assets, including new acquisitions and for ensuring that they are performed in accordance with this specification..
Contractors
Contractors are responsible for ensuring that site preparation, abandonment and restoration activities undertaken in the course of carrying out their contractual requirements, are managed in accordance with the requirements of this Specification and reported, where applicable to the Contract Holder.
Document Custodian
The Document Custodian is responsible for ensuring that this specification is updated as necessary to reflect any changes to Omani legislation, Shell standards and other requirements to which PDO subscribes.
2.4 Performance Monitoring
Following restoration, all sites shall be inspected and surveyed to confirm and register the co-ordinates of the restored area for topographical mapping purposes.
2.5 Review and Improvement
Any user of this document who encounters a mistake or confusing entry is requested to immediately notify Corporate HSE Manager using the ‘User Feedback Form’ provided in CP 122 HSE Management System Manual, Part 2 Chapter 3.
This Specification shall be reviewed every 4 years. However changes to the current version may be made in less than four years as the need arises depending upon the issue of new and relevant environmental legislation and/or major organisational changes in PDO.
2.6 Performance Standards
The Concession Agreement is the basic document which governs land transfer between PDO and the Government. The Concession Agreement also stipulates the responsibility of PDO in managing the land.
Although there is no specific legislation for site preparation, abandonment and restoration, several MD’s apply indirectly. In particular RD 114/2001 Article 21 stipulates that it is not allowed:
- To cut down or uproot trees without a permit.
- Carry out any activity which leads to desertification or deterioration of the natural environment.
- Remove stones, soil, etc. from watercourses, beaches and wadis without a permit.
PDO’s Policy on Abandonment requires that redundant assets shall be written-off and removed where appropriate and the environment restored to, or as near as reasonable practicable to, its original state in an agreed time frame.
The Concession Agreement specifies that all operations shall be carried out in a workmanlike manner in accordance with good oilfield practice, and that the company will take all reasonable measures to close any unproductive well drilled and subsequently abandoned.
Individual licences and permits may establish more stringent requirements than those required by this Specification. In these situations, the more stringent requirements shall apply.
The following minimum requirements shall apply to all PDO facilities, except those, handed over or offered to the Government in working condition.
A risk based corrective action approach shall be taken to all contamination issues in PDOs operation areas.
The Shell Global Environmental Standards (GES No. 9: Soil and Groundwater monitoring and Remediation) to which PDO subscribes, requires that all onshore major installations shall be assessed for soil and groundwater contamination. Where soil and/or groundwater contamination has been detected, risk-based mitigation measures shall be demonstrably in place for any necessary control and/or remediation, including control mechanisms to minimise the risk of migration of contaminants off-site.
The ultimate goal is that operation activities shall not lead to soil or groundwater contamination and that recovery measures shall be in place to mitigate loss of containment (i.e. spills) and that all potentially impacted sites have been assessed against legal standards or risk-based criteria and continue to be monitored. All sites exceeding risk-based criteria or legal standards have been remediated.
PDO has an interest in the following land areas in Oman.
· PDO concession area
· Pipeline rights of way outside the concession area
· PDO camp in Ras al Hamra
· PDO Head office in Mina al Fahal
· PDOs water supply well area in Al Khod
2.7 Performance Execution
Essentially PDO satisfies these requirements by managing the process in three broad stages, namely:
- Land Transfer
- Site selection and preparation
- Site abandonment and restoration
Site selection and preparation includes:
· Geophysical operations, borrow pits, well locations
· Fixed and mobile camp sites
· Roads, pipeline rights of way, plots for facilities and civil construction
· Airstrips, landfill and landform sites and landfarms.
Site abandonment and restoration includes:
· Site inspection and survey
· Roads and associated workings
· Borrow pits, landfill and landform sites
· Seismic camps and operations
· Fixed and mobile camps
· Buildings, airstrips
· Power transmission systems and electrical services
· Wells and well sites
· Process pipework, vessels and instrumentation
· Structural steel and concrete
· Flowlines and pipelines
· Coastal oil storage and export facilities.
PDO’s land management objectives in each of the identified land areas are different and are developed to meet the specific requirements of the location.
For contaminated sites, quality of soil shall be assessed and managed by applying the following guidance documents:
· Shell Group (YG) ’Guide to the Risk-Based Management of Potentially Contaminated Land’;
· Shell Group (YG) ‘Technical Guide to the Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Land’.
2.8 Land Transfer
In order to ensure that environmental liabilities are not accumulated by PDO, environmental controls are needed in the following type of land transfer:
· Acquisition of New Concession Area
· Relinquishing of Concessions
· Land transfer from PDO to Contractors
· Land transfer from Contractors to PDO
· Land transfer from PDO to third parties
· Land transfer between PDO departments
The type of controls required depend on the nature of the transfer. Essentially all transfers shall be preceded by a due diligence environmental audit. Audits may also include chemical and legal components, but not all transfers will require all three assessments. See Appendix A for checklist for a due diligence audit.
2.8.1 Due Environmental Diligence during Land Transfer
Environmental audits should be undertaken prior to a land transfer in order to ensure that no environmental legacies are either passed over to, or accepted by PDO, without full knowledge and agreement by both parties. The scope of the environmental diligence survey may vary based on the:
· type of transfer, and
· prior use of the land being transferred.
2.8.2 Legal Assessment
Legal assessment associated with land transfers shall consist of:
· Land rights of any tenants already on the land.
· Responsibility of the various parties for restoration of any features, including contaminated sites.
All data collected during a legal assessment shall be documented. If the intended land use is likely to result in conflict with the existing tenants and/or the responsibility for restoration of damages is unclear, the legal assessment shall highlight this issue.
2.8.3 Chemical Assessment
Chemical assessments associated with land transfers shall consist of a detailed chemical characterisation of the land being transferred. The requirements of the data collection will be determined by the risk based approach adopted in the environmental due diligence survey.
2.8.4 Responsibility for Initiating Assessments
The responsibility for initiating the due environmental diligence survey is defined in the table below.
Custody Transfer of Land and Due Diligence
Type of Land Transfer / Person responsible for initiating the audit / People to be consultedAcquiring Concessions / XD, XEM / MSE/2, FLG
Relinquishing Concessions / XD, XEM / MSE2, FLG
Land Transfer from PDO to Contractor / Asset Manager / HSE Advisor, FLG, Area Co-ordinator
Land Transfer from Contractor to PDO / Asset Manager / Asset HSE Advisor, Area Co-ordinator
Land Transfer from PDO to Third parties / Asset Manager / Asset HSE Advisor, Area Co-ordinator
Land Transfer between Assets / Contract Holder / Asset HSE advisor
The type of survey and the level of detail are to be decided on a case by case basis.