Decommissioning Committee appoints two new co-chairs

Effective from 1 October, John Gillies, ExxonMobil, and Joe Leask, bp, will be the new co-chairs of IOGP’s Decommissioning Committee.

John Gillies is currently ExxonMobil’s Decommissioning Principal Engineer. In his 33 years at ExxonMobil, John has gained experience in production operations, development planning and capital projects, before leading decommissioning projects and managing a wide range of decommissioning issues.

Joe Leask is the Decommissioning Compliance and Strategy Manager looking after bp’s global decommissioning portfolio. Since entering the industry in 2011, he has held positions in the supply chain, with operators, and in Offshore Energies UK.

John and Joe sat down with the Pulse team to discuss their new appointments. We asked them how they first became involved with IOGP, how they see the value it brings to the industry, and what the Decommissioning Committee is working on.

How did you first get involved in IOGP?

John: “I have worked with IOGP since 2010, during the early planning of the Brent Decommissioning project and large-scale decommissioning in the UK.  IOGP, being the industry representative at OSPAR, was a valuable partner. John Campbell (then at IOGP) had previously been involved in negotiating the OSPAR 98/3 decision on behalf of the UK Government and provided unique perspective that helped the industry navigate the OSPAR framework.

Joe: “My first involvement was working alongside IOGP’s Environment Director, Wendy Brown, to provide links between OEUK’s decommissioning community into the international picture and additional UK focus to the OSPAR discussions. I have been involved in the IOGP Decommissioning Committee for 7 years, including acting as chair of the EU and Mediterranean Subcommittee for decommissioning.”

How is the industry benefiting from the work of IOGP and the Decommissioning Committee?

John: “The most valuable aspect of IOGP Membership is the opportunity to meet, develop networks, and learn from a team of industry peers. We are more effective if we can align and communicate with an industry voice.  IOGP enables access to forums that individual companies could not get.  Stakeholders also prefer to engage with a common industry position rather than multiple companies.

“IOGP continues to develop valuable resources to help industry; the Pre Project-Decommissioning Cost Estimating Guideline is especially useful when advocating for good ARO estimating practices.”

Joe: “First and foremost, IOGP’s Decommissioning Committee is an excellent example of industry collaboration. This Committee brings together a diverse community to share and learn whilst progressing purposeful and valuable initiatives on behalf of the industry. Our recent comparative assessment guidelines are a great example of this, where operators can now leverage international best practice while engaging with regulators on key decommissioning decisions.”

What are the key topics the Committee is currently working on?

John: “There are many.  For example, we are working to help improve the quality of Comparative Assessments, developing socio-economic models for decommissioning to help understand the economic impact of decommissioning alternatives.

“Managing decommissioning plastics from subsea decommissioning is going to be one of the most important and challenging areas for which our industry needs to develop solutions and interface with stakeholders. For that reason, I am especially motivated to participate in the JIP.”

Joe: “Key initiatives include our decommissioning cost estimation guidelines, breakthroughs in benchmarking, and a focus on decommissioning security agreements. We are also progressing environmental initiatives on habitat retention and exploring the effects of polymers on our industry. I am keen to develop and share key global decommissioning insights going forward.”

Any final thoughts?

John: “I am especially grateful for the work of our predecessors that have led the committee to the good position that it currently enjoys.  I appreciate the continued contributions of the existing team and hope we can encourage others to join us to drive the work forward.”

Joe: “I am looking forward to continuing to develop this meaningful global decommissioning community and leveraging the talent within our respective organisations to deliver successes in the global decommissioning scene.”

Their appointments follow Bert Fokkema stepping down as Chair, a position he held for the past 3 years. Bert, Shell’s main representative on the Committee for 8 years, offers the following message:

“It is a strange feeling to leave the IOGP Decommissioning Committee after 8 years, with 3 as Chair,” says Bert. “During that time, the Committee has grown and converged in many ways: the number of active members has grown to over 30, our agenda of topics has grown and diversified from the single focus of safety, environment, and regulatory risks, to economics and benchmarking, and our geographical reach has grown from an OSPAR emphasis to attention to other basins , such as ASCOPE (ASEAN Council on Petroleum) in Asia and the recent MOU with the OOC (Offshore Operators Committee) for Gulf of Mexico.

“None of this would be possible without the professionalism and dedication of the IOGP staff and network which enables us to be ‘the global voice of decommissioning’. Just this year, we are on stage in decommissioning conferences in the US, UK, EU, Brazil, Malaysia, and Brunei. It has been an honor to lead this team that has so much energy, generosity, and friendships. With John and Joe as new co-Chairs and the ongoing support of Ping and Harvey, I am sure you will keep up the delivery, work the issues, and maintain the openness that allows all Members to contribute. I will follow you as I make my next career steps and wish you all well.”