Operations Team Role
The Offshore Operator plays a critical role in ensuring an offshore production facility's safe, efficient, and regulatory-compliant operation. This position requires overseeing daily production activities, supervising operational personnel, and ensuring the integrity of hydrocarbon processing systems, including separation, compression, dehydration, and water treatment. The Operator monitors and optimizes production rates while maintaining equipment reliability through proactive troubleshooting and preventive maintenance. A key responsibility is ensuring strict adherence to BSEE regulations and SEMS (Safety and Environmental Management System) requirements, including conducting safety device testing, ensuring proper documentation, and preparing for regulatory inspections. The role also involves implementing and enforcing process safety management (PSM) principles, leading safety meetings, performing job safety analyses (JSAs), and ensuring compliance with permit-to-work (PTW) procedures. Additionally, the Lead Operator serves as an emergency response team leader, coordinating drills, responding to incidents, and interfacing with offshore installation managers (OIMs) and regulatory bodies. Strong leadership and communication skills are essential, as the Lead Operator must mentor junior operators, coordinate with onshore support teams, and effectively manage daily production challenges to ensure safe and optimized platform operations.
Responsibilities:
The Operator on an offshore asset is responsible for the continuous and efficient operation of production systems, ensuring the safe extraction, processing, and export of hydrocarbons. This includes monitoring and controlling process parameters such as pressure, temperature, flow rates, and fluid levels across vital equipment, including wellheads, separators, compressors, pumps, and dehydration units. Operators are required to conduct routine inspections, troubleshoot operational issues, and adjust system settings to maintain optimal performance while preventing unplanned downtime. They must adhere to strict Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) guidelines and comply with BSEE regulations, ensuring all safety-critical devices such as pressure safety valves (PSVs), shutdown valves (SDVs), and emergency shutdown systems (ESDs) function properly through scheduled testing and maintenance. Operators also play a key role in permit-to-work (PTW) processes, ensuring safe execution of maintenance tasks, and participating in emergency response drills as first responders. Effective communication with the control room, offshore installation manager (OIM), and onshore support teams is essential to ensure smooth production operations, rapid response to abnormal conditions, and compliance with environmental and safety regulations.
Skills and Qualifications:
- Strong technical knowledge of the systems and equipment being operated,
- including familiarity with relevant safety and operational standards.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot issues effectively.
- Good communication and teamwork skills for collaboration with other team members and stakeholders.
- Attention to detail and a commitment to safety and quality in all operational
- activities.
- Competence in production safety systems including but mot limited to regulatory testing, functional testing, Cause and Effects testing, ASME code and other compliance standards
- Process Operations: Expertise in oil and gas production processes, including separation, dehydration, compression, and water treatment.
- Control Room Operations: Experience in monitoring SCADA, DCS, and PLC systems for offshore production.
- Equipment Maintenance & Troubleshooting: Knowledge of rotating and static equipment, including pumps, compressors, turbines, and valves.
- Wellhead Operations: Proficiency in well testing, well shut-in procedures, and artificial lift systems.
- Emergency Shutdown (ESD) Systems: Understanding of platform ESD systems and their operation/testing per regulations.
SEMS Compliance: Deep knowledge of 30 CFR Part 250 Subpart S, including:
- Risk assessment and mitigation.
- Management of Change (MOC) procedures.
- Training and competency requirements.
- Safety Audits and Incident Reporting.
BSEE Inspection & Testing:
- Regular testing of Safety Devices (PSVs, ESDs, SSVs, SDVs) as per 30 CFR Part 250 Subpart H.
- Compliance with Blowout Preventer (BOP) Testing standards.
- Understanding and documentation of Well Control and Production Safety Systems.
- Participation in BSEE regulatory inspections and audits.
Environmental Compliance:
- Understanding of Oil Spill Response Plans (OSRP) and SPCC (Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure) Plans.
- Reporting and documenting emissions and discharges per MARPOL and EPA regulations.
Safety & Emergency Response:
- Process Safety Management (PSM): Knowledge of hazard analysis (PHA, HAZOP), safety barriers, and risk assessment.
- Emergency Response Leadership: Firefighting, rescue, and evacuation procedures, incident Command System (ICS) familiarity, coordination with USCG and regulatory bodies during emergencies.
- Permit-to-Work (PTW) & Job Safety Analysis (JSA): Issuing and managing work permits, conducting pre-job safety meetings and toolbox talks.
Leadership & Team Management:
- Supervisory Skills: leading and mentoring operators, conducting safety meetings and training, conflict resolution and workforce coordination.
- Communication & Reporting: clear and effective communication with OIM, engineers, and onshore support, preparing regulatory reports and daily production logs.
Digital & Technical Proficiency:
- CMMS Software: Experience with SAP, Maximo, or other maintenance management systems for tracking regulatory inspections.
- Data Logging & Analysis: Ability to interpret trend data from SCADA/DCS for process optimization and troubleshooting.