Standards

Standards leader talks of multi-brand approach

While an industry should have a single set of global standards, there is no reason why there could not be several standard brands.  That was one of the insights offered by Dr. Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha, chair of ISO’s (International Organization for Standardization) Technical Management Board at the OGP Standards Committee meeting in Vienna on 5th February.  She was the official host of the session.

She outlined ISO’s policy for partnering agreements in international standards work: co-branding was a possibility between ISO and API and others.

Her comments were highly relevant given OGP’s current efforts to establish an ISO/API partnering agreement as part of a long-term solution to uniform international standards in the face of current EU/US trade regulations.

The meeting was the Committee’s first with its new chair, Denis Deutsch of Total, who succeeded Ross Smith of BP. Denis expressed his optimism that on-going discussions with key parties such as OGP, ISO and API would bring a solution.

Other agenda items included benchmarking and harmonized standards for compliance with EU directives. On behalf of his working group, Simon Brown, UK HSE, Chair IRF Standards sub-group, presented regulators’ ideas for international standards.

A delegation of Russian guests, led by Dr. Genady I. Shmal, President of the Oil and Gas Industrialists Association of Russia, joined the meeting to review possibilities for further cooperation in the international standards area.

Photo Credit: Austrian Standards / Johannes Stern

Photo shows members of the OGP Standards Committee in Vienna with Denis Deutsch and Dr. Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha (Second row from front)

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