COVID-19 Updates: Industry response and impact

Regular updates on measures put in place by IOGP, its Members, and any impact on European oil & gas production.

The industry’s priority remains the safety and well-being of its workers.

Questions related to COVID-19? Drop us a line at gro.p1714066821goi@o1714066821fni.u1714066821e1714066821

Our Members’ response to Covid-19

The list of companies and initiatives is not exhaustive – we do our best to keep this list up to date.

Should you wish to list your company initiative, contact us at gro.p1714066821goi@o1714066821fni.u1714066821e1714066821.

Operations

European oil & gas operations and supply are not directly impacted for the time being.

While there have been cases of workers affected by COVID-19, including on offshore installations, our Member companies have procedures in place to isolate and evacuate personnel should screening procedures or testing fail to identify affected employees.

Other preventive measures are also put in place, such as downsizing non-essential operations and the number of personnel present on site kept at minimum level, in order to safeguard the safety of the workforce while maintaining energy supply.

IOGP monitors the situation through regular contact with national oil & gas industry partners (companies and trade bodies).

Common concerns.

Production keeps going despite current sanitary situation and market conditions – this is no easy feat.

There is good collaboration between government and industry in the different producing countries to make sure operations are maintained, with no incidents offshore.

Companies are fragilized, some more profoundly than others. From 2019 to 2020, depending on countries and areas, capital expenditure is being slashed by 20-30% and could even drop between 40 to 50% in certain areas. It’s still too early to have a comprehensive view.

This already impacts directly the whole supply chain: for many of the supply chain companies, the loss of activity will have a very substantial impact: Some construction yards are losing 70% of their workload, engineering around 60%.

Oil storage is filling up fast at global level, with demand down around 20% in March-April (estimate), while supply still remains higher.

Looking forward

The lessons of the 2014 crisis have helped soften the blow. The impact on the industry would be worse without the efficiency gains made in the past few years, including thanks to IOGP’s work on standardization.

3 stages of action for industry are being considered: Immediate, recovery and then looking ahead.

Economy and security of supply are back on top of the agenda, with climate still close behind. We strongly believe CCS must be part of any exit strategy looking to direct funds to sustainable technologies.

IOGP response

IOGP helps harmonise its Members’ responses through information and learnings sharing, and helps Members progress on specific issues. Whilst many of our members work globally, IOGP helps them gain national insights as the situation evolve.

Below is a brief summary of our Committee work. For more information on this drop us a line with your questions and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Health Committee

• Started meeting at earliest stages of the COVID-19 crisis, and sharing information on travel restrictions, quarantine, controlling infections and other relevant measures.
• The Committee began by looking into issues such as testing (onshore or offshore), social distancing (how do we deal with it in practice) and now looks into mental health aspects (longer term effects of prolonged rotations and their mitigation).

Aviation Committee

• Looks into ways to transport affected or infected people.
• Since helicopter are commonly used, specific questions arose: how to achieve social distancing in a helicopter, how to protect the pilot, how to disinfect the helicopter. All issues are addressed in a risk-based manner.

Safety Committee

• Looks into risk assessments by sharing companies’ inputs, the effect of the whole supply chain behind the platforms (food, transport, trainings are needed; equipment needs to be maintained and certified).
• Short term actions have been taken. The Committee is now looking 3-6 months down the road as the situation is expected to last quite some time.