India’s continued economic growth is squarely energy dependent, and that with nearly 88 percent of hydrocarbon requirement being met through imports, the offshore exploration and production sector is a strategic lifeline. Therefore, ensuring its safe, secure, uninterrupted and sustained operation is not merely an operational necessity but a national responsibility which requires complete focus, seamless stakeholder collaboration and proactive coordination, said Rear Admiral Rahul Shankar, NM, the Flag Officer Offshore Defence Advisory Group (FODAG) and Advisor to the Government of India on Offshore Security and Defence.
Chairing the 57th meeting of the Joint Venture Operators Protection Advisory Committee (JVOPAC) at Chennai recently, Rear Admiral Shankar highlighted the urgent need to enhance security consciousness and vigilance among the offshore operators in light of the dynamic geopolitical situation in the neighbourhood, the easy availability of cheap and lethal technology as also the diffusion of adversarial actors, all in addition to an already vast threat spectrum in the maritime domain.
In attendance to JVOPAC meeting were epresentatives from the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, central and state agencies with a stake in security of the offshore sector viz., the office of the National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC), Director General Hydrocarbon (DGH), Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) as well as Maritime Security Coordinators of coastal states, state fisheries and SIB (Tamil Nadu) as also representatives from PSUs and joint venture/private companies associated with offshore petroleum exploration and production, including ONGC, OIL, Reliance, Cairn India, Sun Petrochemicals, HOEC and HEPI attended the meeting. The meeting was organized under the aegis of the Offshore Defence Advisory Group (ODAG).
The JVOPAC was constituted in 1998 as a sub-committee of the Offshore Security Coordination Committee (OSCC), to ensure efficient functioning of offshore security arrangements. In keeping with this overall charter, JVOPAC facilitates exchange on security and offshore protection related issues as also best practices between all offshore operators. The forum discusses and advises the offshore operators on issues relevant to the defence and security of offshore assets. The meeting assumes particular significance in the backdrop of unprecedented volatility in the geopolitical landscape which is adversely affecting the global energy ecosystem.
A key highlight of the meeting was focused discussions on various initiatives being progressed to enhance surveillance of the offshore development areas. These included the recently promulgated gazette notifications with a bearing on offshore security, measures being progressed to enhance domain awareness of the offshore development areas and efforts in hand to formalise the offshore security framework in respect of the nascent exploration activity off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Besides, the meeting considered the requirement of a procedure for registering FIRs in respect of offshore incidents that would be applicable in all coastal states and implementation of physical security solutions on the offshore platforms. Process improvements for security clearance of vessels operating in the offshore development areas were also deliberated.
