ERM

Spotlight Articles

An in-depth look at current issues

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Spotlight Articles

ERM Consultants take an in-depth look at the issues facing our clients. Find out what issues your business should be considering.

  • A Changing Climate for the Extractives Sector

    by Ioannis Chrysostomidis
    There is no doubt that managing climate change risk presents real opportunities to improve project economics by identifying and mitigating potential risks early in the project design and implementation schedule. In the extr...

    Date:
    30 April 2013
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
  • Sustainability: The Path Forward for Arctic and Cold Region Resource Development

    by Mike Smylie and Jeff Leety
    The Arctic may hold the key to some of the last great undiscovered oil and gas resources on the planet. As just one example, the United States Geological Survey estimates there are 85 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered...

    Date:
    21 January 2013
  • Managing Environmental and Social Risks in China's Unconventional Gas Sector: Lessons Learned and Application in Future Developments

    by Piers Touzel
    China has the largest reserves of unconventional gas in the world. Led by Chinese National Oil Companies (NOCs), and with participation from International Oil Companies (IOCs), exploration and appraisal activities for unconventional ...

    Date:
    6 December 2012
    Service:
    Impact Assessment and Planning
    Country:
    China
  • GHG Inventories: from compliance to performance - the roadmap for corporate responses to climate change

    It is now 15 years since climate change was included on the agendas of the largest corporations on the planet. In the beginning, it was a race to identify mitigation projects that could result in enhanced profits (carbon credits) with little understa...

    Date:
    16 October 2012
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
  • New emissions trading scheme will impact oil and gas operations in Kazakhstan

    With significant untapped reserves of oil, coal and gas, Kazakhstan has seen considerable growth in extraction and exploration activities in recent years.
    As of 1 January 2013, oil and gas companies operating in Kazakhstan will be subject to the cou...

    Date:
    10 July 2012
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
    Country:
    Kazakhstan
  • Industry indicates support for a Safety Case approach in the Gulf of Mexico

    The US National Commission report on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was issued on 11 January 2011 and contains conclusions and recommendations that will undoubtedly have far reaching implications for the oil and gas industry.
    The report concludes t...

    Date:
    19 April 2011
    Service:
    Performance and Assurance
  • Larry Cahill Authors Ninth Edition of Environmental Health and Safety Audits

    ERM Technical Director Larry Cahill has authored the latest edition of Environmental, Health and Safety Audits – its ninth edition.
    Used as a text for technical courses by over 40 colleges and universities across North America – including the Univer...

    Date:
    18 April 2011
    Service:
    Performance and Assurance
  • Preparing for the potential implications of events in the Gulf of Mexico

    With the implications of events in the Gulf of Mexico still resonating through the oil and gas industry, offshore operators and their suppliers need to be prepared for the regulatory changes that are currently being proposed.
    Sweeping changes to the...

    Date:
    3 December 2010
    Service:
    Risk Management
    Country:
    United States
  • Remediation portfolios: finding answers to the right questions

    How do you bring final closure to a contamination issue to protect a site’s value and ensure it can be used productively in the future? And how do you approach contamination issues as part of an acquisition deal? As the global economy shows signs of ...

    Date:
    9 August 2010
    Service:
    Contaminated Site Management
  • Competing in the New Economy

    Sustainability is reshaping the competitive landscape in every industry and companies able to anticipate changes and innovate early are reaping the benefits of improved operating efficiency, new growth and a stronger license to operate.
    Based on ERM...

    Date:
    2 July 2010
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
  • Meeting the challenge of unconventional gas

    It's no surprise that unconventional gas – gas that has been trapped for millions of years in rocks – has come onto the radar of some of the world’s largest resources companies. New technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydrofracturing or “fra...

    Date:
    30 April 2010
    Service:
    Impact Assessment and Planning
  • Keeping oil and gas mega projects moving – grappling with Non Technical Risk

    Project delays cost money. This is evident in all areas of business, no more so than in the oil and gas industry where the global cost of major project delays amounts to billions of dollars every year.
    Why should this be so? Firstly, the stakes are...

    Date:
    19 January 2010
    Service:
    Impact Assessment and Planning
  • COP15: More important than media reports suggest

    Most media coverage on the outcome of COP15 in Copenhagen has been very negative. The ‘Copenhagen Accord’ was only ‘noted’ and not ‘adopted’ by the meeting. No decisions were concluded on the numerous issues covered by the Ad Hoc Working Groups on Lo...

    Date:
    23 December 2009
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
  • Copenhagen – a new climate for business?

    When the world’s climate negotiators meet in Copenhagen this December they will be working on binding emissions reduction targets, not voluntary targets. In the Kyoto Protocol non-signatories suffer few direct consequences. The challenge for the nego...

    Date:
    4 November 2009
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
  • Untapped savings: Engaging staff to achieve resource efficiencies

    Re-examining cost cutting and efficiency assumptions
    Many businesses have driven operational improvement programs for years, often using Six Sigma and lean approaches to achieve efficiencies. Yet, substantial savings often remain untapped. As the ec...

    Date:
    24 September 2009
    Service:
    Sustainability and Climate Change
  • Doing More with Less; Decommissioning in a Downturn

    Rushing to Closure Comes at a Cost
    Many companies are under considerable pressure to quickly reduce their manufacturing capacity. This is due to falling consumer demand, cost reduction drives and the need to maintain cash flows. In turn, organizatio...

    Date:
    7 July 2009
    Service:
    Contaminated Site Management
  • Getting ready for the Mandatory Reporting of GHG Emissions in the United States

    The Obama administration’s first serious policy foray into climate change has landed a significant obligation on US industry. From 1 January 2010 some 13,000 facilities - accounting for about 90 percent of industrial greenhouse gases emitted in the U...

    Date:
    9 June 2009
    Service:
    Air Quality and Climate Change
    Country:
    United States

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