A Framework for Developing Mutual Aid Arrangements

Abstract Resources other than those immediately available to an operator (either owned, under contract or through third parties such as oil spill organisations) may be required to respond to a large scale offshore incident. Such supplementary resources may be owned or under contract to other operators in or near the affected basin. While the exploration & production industry has demonstrated that it can cooperate rapidly and effectively in response to such incidents, it is OGP’s belief that a framework to guide the consideration of mutual aid and response assistance can further improve the industry’s ability to respond. OGP looked at the typical elements of a response to a large-scale offshore incident and concluded that it is at the local, regional or basin level that operators are more likely to face common logistical, technical, legal, regulatory environment as well as being able to quickly access resources. Therefore, the framework was developed to aid operators and industry associations in initiating and conducting mutual aid discussions at this level. This paper describes the framework in broad terms, going through the role of mutual aid in the response to offshore incidents, it lists the ‘Guiding principles of mutual aid’ and lays out a process for scoping—through the identification of needs and opportunities for mutual aid—and developing arrangements from the opportunities identified. It concludes by describing issues that may need to be addressed when considering mutual aid arrangements and outlining some practical measures that may help to enhance the functioning and maintenance of mutual aid arrangements.