LNG – the new risk agenda

1. What is the business threat? The LNG industry is experiencing significant opposition from organizations and interest groups claiming that the consequences of a major LNG tanker releasewould have an unacceptable impact on the community. Such arguments have stagnated some project proposals. In response, several industry consultants have offered differing analyses of the magnitude of the consequences and, while these have been widely circulated in the industry, they are subject to dispute and the cause of current uncertainty. DNV, an independent foundation with the objective of safeguarding life, property, and the environment, has a respected history in the LNG shipping industry and the modeling of hydrocarbon releases. DNV is proposing to make an independent assessment of the effects of a range of LNG releases. DNV will prepare apaper for public consideration that provides our assessment of the effects of these LNG releases. Thepaper would becrafted to be understandable to a wide audience, while providing enough detail to be technically defensible in respected refereed journals. In light of security concerns, we do not propose including the full details of the failure/release scenarios in the public document. A supplementary document for use by contributing sponsors will nevertheless include the basis of the failure scenarios, and more complete information regarding the event tree and detailed analysis. The results of the study are intended to provide a public benchmark for the industry and increase the clarity for risk based decision making. Scenarios from both kinds of common marine tankers (membrane and spherical) will be considered. Scenarios will be realistic but generic, not related to any specific project with confidential aspects. An Invitation to Sponsors DNV is interested in involving industry and government sponsors in this study. Sponsors will aid in the development of the study and be able to comment on the technical details of the analysis. Deliverables Public paper describing the DNV analysis of major LNG releases from maritime or terminal operators Full documentation of the analysis for participating (contributing) industry companies Presentation of the results at selected venues Role of Sponsors Verification of cases selected by experienced LNG staff Financial support Why DNV? World class dispersion and hydrocarbon consequence models and modeling tools Extensive LNG engineering experience with vessels and terminals Suggested Financial Support $8,000 USD If you would like more details on how you can get involved, please contact Dr. Robin Pitblado (robin.pitblado@dnv.com or 281-721-6824) or Gareth Hughes (gareth.hughes@dnv.comor 281-721-6717) LNG – the new risk agenda An Invitation to Sponsors Figure 1: Shell & Bechtel withdraw LNG project Upstream online.com