Operations Integrity

Through designing, maintaining and operating our facilities and assets with a focus on process safety and asset integrity, we protect the public, safeguard the health and wellbeing of our employees and contractors, minimize potential risks to the environment, and shelter assets from damage or loss.

At all our operations we identify hazards and risks and work to eliminate or mitigate them. For certain equipment, this begins before it is acquired. We use strategic sourcing to ensure teams with appropriate experience participate in procurement evaluations. For example, purchases made in engineering critical categories – those that include the delivery of services, equipment or materials that have a direct impact on the reliability and integrity of our facilities – are subject to specific review by engineers during the bid evaluation stage.

For all facilities with the potential for major accident hazards we have developed safety cases, which identify hazards and associated risks and, dependent on the level of risk, the control and mitigation measures required.

Performing activities safely and reliably leads to efficient and consistent performance and we constantly assess whether we are meeting our own expectations and requirements for operational integrity. We conduct audits of business units and major facilities to verify the processes and procedures in place and that they are implemented effectively. At the same time, business units provide assurance that processes are effective in managing risk.

Operational integrity targets are set as part of our annual objectives and are reviewed monthly by the Business Leadership Team and at each Executive Health, Safety and Environment Committee meeting.

Process Safety Incidents

We investigate Tier 1 and 2 process safety incidents to determine how to improve equipment reliability and related operating integrity practices, and to identify barriers aimed at managing and mitigating major accident hazards.

Our Tier 1 and 2 process safety definitions align with those of the American Petroleum Institute, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Center for Chemical Process Safety and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers.

Tier 1 events are classified as those involving any major release of hazardous materials with the potential for serious consequences resulting in injuries, harm to the environment and/or asset damage. In 2018 we had 12 Tier 1 process safety events, unchanged from the year before.

Pipeline Integrity

We monitor and manage approximately 20,800 kilometres of pipelines, as of the end of 2018, from the design and construction phases through to operation, maintenance and, ultimately, suspension and abandonment. This includes pipelines operated by Husky for the Husky Midstream Limited Partnership.

Pipeline Integrity Management Program

Our Pipeline Integrity Management Program employs a proactive approach to managing integrity, operations and maintenance, factoring in the diverse profile of all Husky-owned-and-operated pipelines.

We are enhancing our Pipeline Risk Assessment process to align with the safety case approach used for facilities, which identifies hazards and associated risks and, dependent on the level of risk, the control and mitigation measures required. The process will use the bow tie methodology to evaluate major accident hazards associated with Husky’s pipelines, classify pipelines according to criticality and demonstrate there are sufficient barriers and safeguards to manage pipeline risks to as low as reasonably practicable.

With the goal of improving integrity and reducing incident rates, we apply the risk-based program throughout the lifecycle of all our pipelines, including:

• Risk assessments that identify potential integrity issues and the appropriate action taken to address them.
• Annual integrity reviews for all pipeline systems, assessing the effectiveness of the integrity programs and making recommendations for improvements where needed.
• Mandatory training for employees involved in pipeline operation and maintenance. The Pipeline Operations and Maintenance Manual is used to set requirements for the safe operation and maintenance of pipelines.
• Investigation of any incident to establish the root cause, using what is learned to improve our programs.
• Performance targets, set annually and tracked monthly.

We review the Pipeline Integrity Management Program regularly for alignment with code and regulatory requirements.

Geohazard Integrity Management Program

We monitor potential impacts to pipelines from natural earth movement so we can identify and mitigate those risks. Fibre optic sensing technology, which has increased capacity and capability for long distance distributed monitoring, has been installed on our LLB Direct pipeline in Alberta and will be installed on all new large diameter and high consequence area projects. Geohazard baseline assessments have been completed on about 25% of our pipelines, starting with those that have the highest potential consequence.

In 2018 we suspended the use of a pipeline crossing the North Saskatchewan River, where a 2016 release, caused by ground movement, occurred. Construction has started on a new line and a number of integrity measures will be in place, including a geotechnical review and fibre optic monitoring.

Pipeline Incidents

In 2018 Husky recorded a pipeline incident rate of 1.04 incidents per 1,000 kilometres, a slight increase over the year before. We have reduced our pipeline incident rate by more than 70% over the past four years.

Spill Management

Preventing spills, and immediately detecting and responding when they occur, is a priority for Husky. We implement operational integrity programs throughout the life-cycle of an asset, which is key to preventing spills. In 2018 our number of reportable spills increased from the year before, showing we must continue to focus on this area.

When alerted to a spill, we respond by implementing containment and recovery plans while safeguarding workers, the public and the environment. Spills are reported to the appropriate regulatory authority.

Containment and recovery is our initial priority, to prevent migration of the released product and any impact to soil or water. As much of the release as possible is recovered. If soil or water has been affected, an assessment is conducted to determine remediation efforts, followed by ongoing monitoring.

Our people receive training related to response and recovery activities, health and safety, remediation and regulatory requirements. We have site-specific spill response plans, with recommended practices governing spill management and site remediation.

By participating in industry spill response organizations and mutual aid agreements, both onshore and offshore, we share knowledge and best practices to further improve prevention and response. Through mutual aid agreements we can access additional resources if needed.

We track our performance to learn from incidents and determine what we should do differently.

Release Incidents Count

In 2018 the number of reportable release incidents increased over the year before, as did the volume of hydrocarbons and other fluids released. We recovered 42% of released hydrocarbons, below our target of 85%.

Three incidents primarily contributed to these results:

• In November, a failed subsea flowline connector in the White Rose field offshore Newfoundland and Labrador resulted in the release of approximately 250 cubic metres of oil and water. We were not able to recover any of the release because of the sea conditions.
• In Saskatchewan about 2,800 cubic metres of saltwater were released onto a field in July, with some entering the Englishman River. We removed the affected soil and continue to remediate the site and monitor river water quality. All water testing results from the Englishman River in 2018 met surface water quality standards.
• Approximately 700 cubic metres of wastewater were released at the Lima Refinery in June when a tank flange failed. The wastewater was all recovered and cycled back through the refinery’s wastewater treatment system.

Reportable releases include those from operating pipelines, wells, facilities and drilling activities. The increase in reportable incidents in 2018 is largely due to horizontal drilling for pipeline infrastructure where drilling mud was released, recovered and properly disposed of. A number of releases were attributable to a heavy oil facility which has now been shut in and will be decommissioned.