U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement noted that officials from the Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs and Office of Strategic Engagement recently met with their counterparts from Mexico’s National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector, known by its Spanish acronym ASEA, to discuss approaches to Safety and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) and the development of ASEA’s forthcoming SEMS program.
ASEA is responsible for the regulation and oversight of all oil and gas production, as well as industrial safety and environmental protection in Mexico. The Mexican agency works with the goal of providing certainty to both investors and society. ASEA’s vision is based on adherence to international standards and best practices in regulation across the world, and it carries out its international collaboration with the intent of implementing the best technical processes in the newly established Mexican hydrocarbon sector.
The collaborative bilateral workshop took place at BSEE’s Washington headquarters on August 25, 2015. Both BSEE and ASEA presented information on the history and organization of their respective SEMS programs, and BSEE addressed questions about practical implementation, SEMS revisions, and lessons learned in the four years since the Bureau was created. The workshop marks the first time BSEE has hosted ASEA officials in Washington since ASEA’s formal establishment earlier this year. BSEE looks forward to future bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation with its Mexican counterpart.
ASEA officials will be back in Washington next month representing Mexico at the biennial International Regulators’ Forum (IRF) Offshore Safety Conference. BSEE will host this year’s conference, which is scheduled for October 19-20, 2015 and will focus on moving safety in the offshore petroleum industry from concepts discussed in the boardroom to effective implementation out in the field.
