Abstract The U.S. Minerals Mangement Service (MMS), U.S. Coast Guard, and oil and gas interests that operate in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) cooperated to create four types of quantitative, normalized, historical indicators of the safety and environmental performance of offshore operations. The indicators cover employee injuries, oil spills, other incidents that could cause injuries or pollution, and noncompliances with safety and environmental regulations. The performance indicators are reported as OCS industry incident rates or participating company incident rates. Twenty specific incident rates are generated annually using arithmetic formulas that operate on performance data developed by MMS and the participating OCS operating companies. This paper explains the process used to develop the OCS performance measures, describes the OCS performance data, and presents the performance measures formulas. In addition, the industry and participating companies' incident rates for 1996, 1997, and 1998 are reported and discussed.
Acknowledgement This paper summarizes the collaborative work of numerous people who are affiliated with the U.S. Federal Government or the U.S. offshore oil and gas industry. The effort to create the OCS Performance Measures Program would not have succeeded without their participation. Some of these people have provided support to the Program for more than 4 years. In particular, the authors want to recognize the following individuals for their long-term dedication to the tasks of developing and maintaining the OCS performance measures, periodic gathering of performance data, and preparing Program reports: Steve Brooks, Exxon-Mobil; Charlie Duhon, Kerr-McGee Corporation; David Dykes, Minerals Management Service; Gary Harrington, Newfield Exploration Company; Virgil Harris, Offshore Operators Committee; Lloyd Hetrick, Cockrell Oil Corporation; Don Howard, Minerals Management Service; Tim Sampson, American Petroleum Institute; John Rullman, Exxon-Mobil; Alan Spackman, International Association of Drilling Contractors; Peter Velez, Shell Offshore Inc.; Craig Ward, Independent Petroleum Association of America; and Mark Witten, Chevron USA Inc.
Purpose of the OCS Performance Measures Program The OCS Performance Measures Program (hereafter referred to as Program) is an outgrowth of the OCS Safety and Environmental Management Program (SEMP). The SEMP is a tool for OCS operators and contractors that integrates 10 fundamental activities associated with discovering, developing, and producing offshore oil and gas. Oil and gas companies that operate in the OCS adopt SEMP voluntarily. Contractors with significant OCS operations are also encouraged to develop a SEMP. The American Petroleum Institute (API) maintains formal guidance for developing a SEMP and also has monitored the status of voluntary SEMP implementation. The principal reason for creating OCS performance measures was to help a company or contractor determine how SEMP has affected its operating safety and environmental performance.
In addition to assessing the effects of SEMP on a company-specific basis, the OCS performance measures can be used to monitor operating performance on an OCS-wide scale. This is accomplished by aggregating the performance data for all OCS operating companies to generate an annual OCS safety and environmental performance profile. The profile allows an operating company to weigh its individual performance against the industrywide performance. Over the longer term, industry and the public may use the aggregate data to assess performance trends.