Regulatory nirvana for low-permeability gas reservoir development

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Goldstein ◽  
Michael Malavazos ◽  
Belinda Hayter ◽  
James Coda ◽  
Michael Jarosz ◽  
...  

‘Trusted land access is both the first factor and the final outcome of a virtuous exploration and production life-cycle’ (Goldstein et al, 2007). Governments are under pressure to deploy trusted regulatory frameworks that enable profitable and environmentally sustainable development of unconventional gas resources for matters including, but not limited to, fracture stimulation operations. Nirvana regulation will entail: attractive licence tenure; regulatory certainty and efficiency without taint of capture; regulators and licensees with trustworthy capabilities (competence and capacity); effective (informative) stakeholder consultation well-ahead of land access; public access to details of risks and reliable research to reduce key uncertainties, and to back-up risk management strategies so the basis for regulation is contestable anytime, everywhere; timely notice of entry with sufficient operational details to effectively inform stakeholders; potentially affected people and organisations who can object to land access without support for vexatious objections; fair and expeditious dispute resolution processes; fair compensation to affected land-users for costs, losses, and deprivation due to operations; risks that are reduced to low or as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) while also meeting community expectations for net outcomes; licensees who monitor and report on the efficacy of their risk management processes, while the regulator probes the same; regulators who can prevent and stop operations, require restitution, levy fines and cancel licences; and, industry compliance records, which are made public so the efficacy of regulation is transparent. This paper will describe how these principles are deployed in SA where: 24 unconventional gas play-trends are being explored, each with giant gas potential; hundreds of wells have been safely hydraulically fracture stimulated to enhance flow rates from both petroleum and geothermal reservoirs, and in doing so, enable economic development; and, since implementing SA’s Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000, more than 11,000 notices of entry for petroleum operations have led to just one court action, and that was to establish legal precedent that geophysical surveys can extend outside a licence to attain full-fold control in a licence. The introduction of new energy development technologies is inevitable, so regulatory nirvana will remain an aspiration. Regulation for compatible, multiple-use of land in Australia is undertaken with community ownership of subsurface resources in mind. SA aspires to achieve regulatory nirvana for the upstream petroleum sector. Expeditious, welcomed access to land for compatible, multiple uses is the metric for performance, and leading practice is based on the principle that trust is the most valuable lead factor and lag outcome in sustaining welcomed land access for resource exploration, development and production.

Author(s):  
D.I. Gray ◽  
J.I. Reid ◽  
D.J. Horne

A group of 24 Hawke's Bay hill country farmers are working with service providers to improve the resilience of their farming systems. An important step in the process was to undertake an inventory of their risk management strategies. Farmers were interviewed about their farming systems and risk management strategies and the data was analysed using descriptive statistics. There was considerable variation in the strategies adopted by the farmers to cope with a dryland environment. Importantly, these strategies had to cope with three types of drought and also upside risk (better than expected conditions), and so flexibility was critical. Infra-structure was important in managing a dryland environment. Farmers chose between increased scale (increasing farm size) and geographic dispersion (owning a second property in another location) through to intensification (investing in subdivision, drainage, capital fertiliser, new pasture species). The study identified that there may be scope for further investment in infra-structural elements such as drainage, deeper rooting alternative pasture species and water harvesting, along with improved management of subterranean clover to improve flexibility. Many of the farmers used forage crops and idling capacity (reduced stocking rate) to improve flexibility; others argued that maintaining pasture quality and managing upside risk was a better strategy in a dryland environment. Supplementary feed was an important strategy for some farmers, but its use was limited by contour and machinery constraints. A surprisingly large proportion of farmers run breeding cows, a policy that is much less flexible than trading stock. However, several farmers had improved their flexibility by running a high proportion of trading cattle and buffer mobs of ewe hoggets and trade lambs. To manage market risk, the majority of farmers are selling a large proportion of their lambs prime. Similarly, cattle are either sold prime or store onto the grass market when prices are at a premium. However, market risk associated with the purchase of supplements and grazing was poorly managed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean C. Bedard ◽  
Lynford E. Graham

In auditing, risk management involves identifying client facts or issues that may affect engagement risk, and planning evidence-gathering strategies accordingly. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether auditors' identification of risk factors and planning of audit tests is affected by decision aid orientation, i.e., a “negative” focus wherein client risk and its consequences are emphasized, or a “positive” focus where such factors are not emphasized. Specifically, we expect that auditors will identify more risk factors using a negatively oriented risk identification decision aid, but only when engagement risk is relatively high. We address this issue in the context of auditors' knowledge of actual clients, manipulating decision aid orientation as negative or positive in a matched-pair design. Results show that auditors using the negative decision aid orientation identify more risk factors than do those using a positive orientation, for their higher-risk clients. We also find that decisions to apply substantive tests are more directly linked to specific risk factors identified than to direct risk assessments. Further, our results show that auditors with repeat engagement experience with the client identify more risk factors. The findings of this study imply that audit firms may improve their risk management strategies through simple changes in the design of decision aids used to support audit planning.


Author(s):  
Zoe Del Fante ◽  
Nicola Di Fazio ◽  
Adriano Papale ◽  
Paola Tomao ◽  
Fabio Del Duca ◽  
...  

Physical risk assessments allow us to understand work-related critical issues, thus representing a useful tool in risk management strategies. In particular, our study focuses on the identification of already known and emerging physical risks related to necropsy and morgue activities, as well as crime scene investigations. The aim of our study is, therefore, to identify objective elements in order to quantify exposure to such risk factors among healthcare professionals and working personnel. For the research of potentially at-risk activities, data from the Morgue of Policlinico Umberto I Hospital in Rome were used. The scientific literature has been reviewed in order to assess the risks associated with morgue activity. Measurements were performed on previously scheduled days, in collaboration with the activities of different research units. The identified areas of risk were: microclimate; exposure to noise and vibrations; postural and biomechanical aspects of necropsy activities. The obtained results make it possible to detect interindividual variability in exposure to many of the aforementioned risk factors. In particular, the assessment of microclimate did not show significant results. On the contrary, exposure to vibrations and biomechanical aspects of load handling have shown potential risk profiles. For this reason, both profiles have been identified as possible action targets for risk management strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-69
Author(s):  
Md Takibur Rahman ◽  
Rasmus Nielsen ◽  
Md Akhtaruzzaman Khan ◽  
Dewan Ahsan

Author(s):  
Syed Muhammad Ali Shah ◽  
Tahir Rasheed ◽  
Komal Rizwan ◽  
Muhammad Bilal ◽  
Hafiz M.N. Iqbal ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Yingmei Tang ◽  
Huifang Cai ◽  
Rongmao Liu

AbstractIn the absence of formal risk management strategies, agricultural production in China is highly vulnerable to climate change. In this study, field experiments were conducted with 344 households in Heilongjiang (Northeast China) and Jiangsu (East China) Provinces. Probit and logistic models and independent sample T-test were used to explore farmers’ demand for weather index insurance, in contrast to informal risk management strategies, and the main factors that affect demand. The results show that the farmers prefer weather index insurance to informal risk management strategies, and farmers’ characteristics have significant impacts on their adoption of risk management strategies. The variables non-agricultural labor ratio, farmers’ risk perception, education, and agricultural insurance purchase experience significantly affect farmers’ weather index insurance demand. The regression results show that the farmers’ weather index insurance demand and the influencing factors in the two provinces are different. Farmers in Heilongjiang Province have a higher participation rate than those in Jiangsu Province. The government should conduct more weather index insurance pilot programs to help farmers understand the mechanism, and insurance companies should provide more types of weather index insurance to meet farmers’ diversified needs.


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