Ukraine: new oil and gas safety rules

Ukraine

New safety rules for the oil and gas industry will come into force on 1 August 2008.

The new rules, which were adopted on 6 June 2008 by the State Committee for Industrial Safety, Labour Protection and Mining Supervision:

  • will apply to everyone involved in design, construction, extraction, repair or reconstruction aspects of oil and gas production, as well as specialist organisations involved in geophysical surveys, R&D, projects and construction, engineering, balancing, commissioning and emergency response
  • contain detailed and comprehensive technical requirements and incorporate key technical standards previously spread across many documents
  • require all organisations intending to engage in oil and gas production or research to obtain a permit from the Committee before doing so
  • require each project for exploration, production and equipping the oil and gas fields to be properly evaluated, examined and approved before a permit is granted
  • set out detailed requirements relating to staff, equipment, machinery, tools and working conditions, particularly for those working in confined spaces such as wells
  • prescribe safety standards for preparation works, drilling and repairing the wells, and for the work programme used for constructing wells
  • set out a list of necessary technical and safety characteristics for mining equipment including the emergency response process
  • include requirements for procedures such as using sucker-rod pumps, coiled tubing installations, the cycling process, water flooding, flowing wells and gas lift operations, as well as for the intensification process, repairs, oil and gas gathering and transportation
  • specify that geophysical works may only be conducted by specialist geophysical companies under agreements with drilling and production companies
  • stipulate that all geophysical research must be carried out in the presence of representatives of the drilling team and well owner and sets out requirements for drilling and extraction activities and for geophysical equipment