ISO Focus

The Magazine of the International Organization for Standardization

Volume 1, No. 4, April 2004, ISSN 1729-8709

Drilling
deep

Shell saves money with

common standards
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ISO Focus is published 11 times
a year (single issue : July-August).
It is available in English.
Annual subscription 158 Swiss Francs
Contents
1 Comment Cheryl Stark, Chair, ISO/TC 67
It takes a synchronized team to get the petrol we need
2 World Scene
Highlights of events from around the world
3 ISO Scene
Highlights of news and developments from ISO members
4 Guest View
By Mr. Malcolm Brinded, Chairman of the Committee of
Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group.
7 Main Focus

Publisher
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(International Organization for
Standardization)
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E-mail allen@iso.org
Web www.iso.org Drilling deep
Manager : Anke Varcin • Assessing the value of partnerships
Editor : Giles Allen • Standards as a strategic business asset
Assistant Editor : Elizabeth • Only one standard is needed
Gasiorowski-Denis
• Capturing the added value – ISO/TC 67
Artwork : Pascal Krieger and
Pierre Granier • Offshore structures – the imperatives of safety and security
ISO Update : Dominique Chevaux • Applied regionally, effective internationally – in Europe
Subscription enquiries : Sonia Rosas
• Standards to the aid of regulation in Norway
ISO Central Secretariat • Kazakhstan takes the international route
Telephone + 41 22 749 03 36 • China’s new petroleum industry strategy
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47 • Demands continue to change “ downstream ”
E-mail sales@iso.org • Managing resource conservation in the USA
• The key role of training cross-board players
© ISO, 2004. All rights reserved.
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31 Developments and Initiatives
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35 New this month
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37 Coming up
Cover photo : ISO Highlights of upcoming articles
ISO Focus April 2004
Comment
It takes a synchronized team to get
the petrol we need
T
o the consumer, the petroleum
and natural gas industry is the
supplier or retailer of petrol
and heating fuels used by that person.
This is the industry interface with the
consumer, but that interface contains a
very extensive, interdependent network
of contributors backing that retailer.
The trade name on a petrol sta-
tion is the company which supplies the
fuel, refines it, produces it, drills for it,
and explores for it. In the petroleum
industry, these companies are known
as operators, and are usually, but not
always, responsible for the total supply
chain. Their owners, or in other words,
stockholders, expect these companies
to operate in a responsible manner to
generate a profit for them.
Operators have various business
streams that work together to supply the
end-user with fuel, lubricants, plastics,
medicines, textiles, rubber tyres, ink,
and other products. The upstream por-
tion of the operator business encom-
passes the exploration, drilling and
production of petroleum or natural gas.
The downstream portion separates the
crude product into usable products,
such as gasoline, kerosene, fuel oils,
bitumen, and other streams.
But the operator does not work
independently as there are many inter-
related components each with a different
mandate. And the petroleum and natural
gas industry operates in many countries
and regions, each with a different man-
date for exploitation. All components
do work coherently within the frame of
ISO International Standards to accom-
plish their respective goals.
Operators welcome and need
International Standards for equipment
and materials, so that they can rely
on interchangeable parts, established
materials and workmanship, specified
performance criteria, and safety for the
worker, workplace and environment.
A collaborative effort with the entire
support community creates baseline
standards and reduces the number of
internal product specifications that a
company must maintain and use in
negotiation with vendors.
“ The whole fits together
because each portion
recognizes the common
goal, and respects the
intentions and input
of the other portions.”
Vendors are the companies sell-
ing goods and services to the operators.
These vendors can be service/supply
companies selling or using manufac-
tured goods and/or the actual manu-
facturer of goods. Vendors are also
driven by their stockholders to generate
a profit, work in a responsible manner,
protect workers and the environment,
and provide a market usable product. A
vendor welcomes and needs standard-
ization as it reduces his cost of inven-
tory, design modifications, retooling,
and simplifies the negotiation with the
purchaser.
These two pieces cover the
economic side of the petroleum and
natural gas industry but are only a
part of the overall mechanism. There
are other players that also impact on
how activity is undertaken. Primarily,
the regulatory community, that can be
local, state or federal, are required by
their constituents to provide a safe and
healthy environment, with no damage
to the standard of living.
Another player is the American
Petroleum Institute. API is a regional
organization of operator supporters,
and the service/supply and manufactur-
ing segments. The API began writing
standards for the industry in 1923,
producing some 550 standards. API
offered its technology as the basis for
several ISO/TC 67 standards and the
two groups continue jointly to develop
standards that serve the entire world but
address the varying needs of different
operating areas.
Another partner is CEN, the
European Committee for Standardiza-
tion, that has an ISO mirror commit-
tee, CEN/TC 12, with the same name
and goal as ISO/TC 67. CEN/TC 12
upholds the spirit and intent of the
Vienna Agreement, by allowing ISO to
be the lead standardization organization
for its standards. Any item of European
but not international concern is worked
through CEN/TC 12.
The whole fits together because
each portion recognizes the common
goal, understands the part it plays, and
respects the intentions and input of the
other portions. TC 67 works harmoni-
ously towards the common goal of “do
it once, do it right, do it internationally”
as evidenced by the 91 standards pub-
lished during the past five years.
Cheryl Stark
Chair, ISO/TC 67, Material,
equipment and offshore structures
for petroleum, petrochemical
and natural gas industries
ISO Focus April 2004 1
World Scene
Challenges for developing
countries
Trade liberalization is undoubt-
edly opening up market oppor-
tunities for developing coun-
tries. Yet many of them, espe-
cially the least developed, still
have enormous difficulties in
making effective use of such
openings, whether
they result from
multilateral
agreements or
from special
arrangements,
according to a
new study
published by
the Com-
monwealth
Secretariat
and the
Interna-
tional Trade
Centre (UNCTAD/WTO).
“ Influencing and Meeting Inter-
national Standards : Challenges
for developing countries”
examines the difficulties hinder-
ing the export efforts of devel-
oping countries due to short-
comings in their standardization
and conformity assessment
infrastructure. The publication
presents an inventory of the
technical assistance needs of
developing countries in relation
to technical regulations and
sanitary and phytosanitary
measures and addresses some
of the identified challenges. A
second volume in preparation
gives 12 case studies.
According to its authors, the
inability of many developing
countries to participate effec-
tively in international standardi-
zation activities poses serious
problems to the trade of these
countries. For most of the case
study countries, one of the
important tasks to be addressed
is that of creating greater
awareness among industry and
trade groups of the need on
their part to carry out the basic
research and analytical work
that is necessary for participa-
tion in the work on standardiza-
tion at international level.
For more information :
www.intracen.org
2 ISO Focus April 2004
World Petroleum
Congress 2005
The 18 th World Petroleum
Congress (WPC), which is to
be held in Johannesburg, South
Africa, from 23 to 29 Septem-
ber 2005, will discuss the
theme “ Shaping the Energy
Future : Partners in Sustainable
Solutions ”.
“ The theme reflects the continu-
ing efforts of the petroleum
industry to meet consumers
growing demand for cleaner,
reliable and affordable energy
supply in socially acceptable
ways,” declares Dr. Elvad
Røren, President of the World
Petroleum Congress.
High-level government delega-
tions from the 57 member coun-
tries of the WPC and more than
3 500 executives, 250 students
and 350 journalists are expected
to take part
in the
event.
Fol-
lowing
the
theme
of provid-
ing “ Sustaina-
ble Solutions,” a programme of
technical presentations and key-
note addresses will focus on the
main areas of the congress, fea-
turing the latest in upstream,
downstream and petrochemi-
cals, natural gas and renewables,
and managing the industry. Spe-
cial features will include an
OPEC luncheon, an awards cer-
emony, specialist workshops
and round tables, as well as a
corporate social responsibility
area.
ISO will participate for the first
time in the World Petroleum
Congress and address the theme
of current trends for manage-
ment and reporting standards –
from quality to social responsi-
bility – and highlight the impor-
tance of the technical specifica-
tion ISO/TS 29001 for imple-
menting ISO 9001-based quality
management systems in the oil
and natural gas industry.
For more information :
www.18wpc.com
New momentum for Standardization for the
standardization services sector
of medical technologies
Standardization strategies for
facilitating the worldwide
deployment of innovative medi-
cal technologies to enhance
public health and foster interna-
tional trade were the successful
output of the World Standards
Cooperation (WSC) workshop
bringing together some 130
experts representing the major
players in this sector.
At the workshop sessions, partic-
ipants exchanged experiences
from their own technical commit-
A workshop on standardization
tees, organizations and countries
for the services sector was
in five sessions related to : Vision,
organized by the European
Links between Regulators and
Commission’s DG Enterprise in
standards developers, Standards
Brussels on 9 March 2004. It
development practices, New
was noted that the importance
technologies and standards and
of the services sector is justified
the Development dimension.
by its sheer weight in the econo-
A number of key recommen- my of the European Union
dations were made including : (some 70 % of EU GDP) and
calling for closer cooperation the increasing consumption of
between ISO, IEC, ITU-T and
services by manufacturing
WHO as well as other stand-
industry, affecting the cost, price
ards developing organizations ;
and quality of manufactured
increasing transparency and
goods.
mutual feedback among the
Voluntary standards provide
parties concerned ; simplifying
solutions to interface problems
and speeding up the standards
when the provision of services
development process ; relying
crosses national borders. They
on the use of electronic tools
permit users to compare prod-
such as videoconferencing and
ucts and prices, which enforces
e-balloting; ensuring standards
competition and efficiency. In
are responsive and relevant to
the absence of standards, market
the current market needs ; meet-
transparency remains low,
ing the needs of all stakehold-
whereas standards would enable
ers (regulators, medical com-
service providers to focus on the
munity and industry) ; increas-
internal process of services pro-
ing the participation of devel-
duction and obtain economies
oping countries in the standards
of scale.
developing process and focus-
ing on the development of hori- The workshop was presented
zontal standards (i.e. risk man- with a number of case studies
agement, quality management related to individual national
and biological safety). initiatives which have resulted
in standards for particular serv-
For more information :
ices, such as facilities manage-
www.iso.ch/wsc-medtech ment in the Netherlands, for the
More on the outcomes of the operation of call centres in
workshop will be available in France, as well as a CEN initia-
the May issue of ISO Focus. tive relating to translation serv-
ices. The European Commission
has issued a general mandate to
the three European Standards
Organizations asking them to
elaborate work programmes in
the services sector in the next
12 months.
ISO Scene
Water safety signs
The World Tourism Organiza-
tion, a specialized agency of the
United Nations, has recognized
that an International Standard
for water safety would have
benefits for trade and tourism,
particularly in relation to
developing countries.
The World Congress on
Drowning said that a “ working
group should be established to
deal with and resolve the
complexities surrounding water
safety signs and symbols to
produce a set of symbols that
can be universally understood
regardless of race, culture and
level of literacy ” in June 2002,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
ISO has approved a new propos-
al to develop an International
Standard for water safety signs.
The proposal has been assigned
to ISO technical committee ISO/
TC 145, Graphical symbols,
subcommittee SC 2, Safety iden-
tification, signs, shapes, symbols
and colours, and consists of
three work items : Water safety
signs used in workplaces and
public areas ; Specification for
beach safety flags ; Code of
practice for the use of water
safety signs and beach safety
flags.
Up until now, an International
Standard in this area did not
exist, but the importance
of the subject to the
international
community has
prompted ISO
to introduce the
new proposal.
Web site for The Kids’
ISO 14000 Programme
ISO has launched a Web site
(www.iso.org/kidsiso14000)
promoting The Kids’ ISO 14000
Programme, which aims to
harness the energy of children
and young people around the
world to tackle environmental
challenges.
The Kids’ ISO 14000 Pro-
gramme (see ISO Focus, Febru-
ary 2004, p. 33) was created and
is operated by the Japanese
non-profit, non-governmental
organization ArTech. It employs
a simplified version of the Plan-
Do-Check-Act methodology
used in ISO’s highly successful
ISO 14001 environmental
management system standard,
which is implemented by at least
50 000 organizations in 118
countries.
This educational programme has
the following objectives :
• develop environmental aware-
ness among children and
young people,
• teach them to implement envi-
ronmental management in
their homes and communities,
and
• open them to the value of net-
working with young people in
other schools, communities
and countries in order to bring
the force of collective action
to global environmental
issues.
Launched in Japan in 2000, it is
now going international with the
development of programme
material in English for subse-
quent national adoptions and
translations. The first of this
material is in preparation for the
ISO Kids’ site. A brochure, The
Kids’ ISO 14000 Programme (MSB), ISO member for
(ISBN 92-67-10388-1) is availa- Mauritius, brought together
ble free of charge from ISO Hon. Ahmad Jeewah, Minister
members and from ISO Central of Civil Service Affairs and
Secretariat. Administrative Reforms and
Hon. Khushhal Chand
ISO members for Khushiram, Minister of Industry,
Argentina and Botswana Financial Services and Corpo-
certified to ISO 9001: rate Affairs along with repre-
2000 sentatives of the Mauritius
Standards Bureau and Council
Instituto Argentino de Normal-
as well as other organizations
ización (IRAM), ISO member
and enterprises.
for Argentina and the Botswana
Bureau of Standards (BOBS), Conference speakers highlighted
ISO member for Botswana, have the adoption of International
achieved full-site certification Standards by the small island
of conformity to the ISO 9001: economy, particularly in the
2000 quality management public sector, as part of the
standard. reform initiatives to institutional-
ize a “ quality culture ”. An
This means that an independent
Award Ceremony to celebrate
auditor has verified that the
and to recognize the efforts
quality system at IRAM and
made by the teams of officers
BOBS meets the standard’s
involved in the implementation
requirements which include,
of ISO principles followed suite.
in particular, organizational
processes in place to ensure In his presentation on “ Stand-
customer satisfaction and con- ardization in the New World
tinual improvement. Economic Order with Emphasis
on Small Island Economy ”, Mr.
In the case of IRAM, the Insti-
Bryden stressed the use of Inter-
tute is also certified to ISO
national Standards as a driver to
14001. This means that an inde-
access international markets and
pendent auditor has checked that
attract investment. “ Standardiza-
the processes influencing the
tion is a very modern way of
impact of the organization’s
managing the diversity and com-
activities on the environment
plexity of today’s world ”, said
(ISO 14001), conform to the
Mr. Bryden, who also congratu-
relevant standard’s requirements.
lated MSB for raising awareness
The objective of the certifications of the role of standardization at
is to give the organization’s man- the highest level of Mauritius’
agement and its customers confi- Government.
dence that the organization is in
control of the way it does things.
ISO Secretary-
General visits
Mauritius
A country wish-
ing to be compet-
itive worldwide
cannot ignore the
importance of
International
Standards and
what is occurring
at the global lev-
el, ISO Secretary-
ISO Secretary-General Alan Bryden
General Alan Bryden told the
and Mrs. Bryden (centre) with
attendees of a half-day confer-
Dr. Jean Claude Autrey (left),
ence held in
MSB Chairman, and Mr. Asraf A.
Mauritius.
Caunhye (right), MSB Director,
The conference, organized by surrounded by the staff of the
the Mauritius Standards Bureau Mauritius Standards Bureau.
ISO Focus April 2004 3
Guest View
Malcolm Brinded
M
alcolm Brinded is The process has also been
Vice-Chairman of the valuable in demonstrating that we
Committee of Managing don’t have double standards over
Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell environmental issues. Our operations
Group of Companies (CMD). Born in South Africa, Gabon and Nigeria
in the United Kingdom, Malcolm in Africa, all operate under the same
Brinded graduated in Engineering environmental management system as
from Cambridge University in 1974 our operations in Europe or America.
Shell International Limited

and joined Shell in The Hague. He Overall this has led to enhanced focus
has worked for the Shell Group for and consequent improvement in envi-
most of his career – in Brunei, the ronmental performance.
Netherlands, Oman and the UK.
ISO Focus : Apart from management
From 1993 Mr. Brinded worked systems, how do you apply ISO stan-
in Shell Expro in Aberdeen in dards ?
several roles, ultimately as Managing worldwide. We now have about 100 Malcolm Brinded : For the purposes
Director, responsible for 20 % of the independent ISO 14001 certificates in of developing and operating our plants,
UK’s offshore oil and gas business. various Group companies around the our strategy is primarily to use external
He was also Shell’s Country world. Seven years ago we adopted an (non-Shell) standards, with a prefer-
Chairman for the UK from 1999 until integrated health, safety and environ- ence for ISO/IEC standards, and to
2002. He was Shell’s Director for ment (HSE) management system and, minimize the additional requirements
Strategy, Environment, and External as part of the environmental compo- in our company standards. We apply
Affairs from 2001 until becom- nent, we decided that all our major rigorous commercial and technical

Shell International Limited

ing a Group Managing Director in installations would be independently authorization processes, whereby any
July 2002 and was appointed Vice- certified against ISO 14001 by 2000, additional requirements have to be jus-
Chairman of CMD in March 2004. and I am pleased to report that this tified, for both business and technical
has been done. Frankly, obtaining the reasons. We do maintain a set of Group
Malcolm Brinded is a Fellow of the
certificates has been more difficult and company technical standards, as well as
Institutions of Civil and Mechanical
more rigorous than many expected. We feedback loops between the users and
Engineers, and a fellow of the Royal
are now in the process of consolidating custodians of these standards to con-
Academy of Engineering. Mr. Brinded
some of these certificates, so that one stantly improve them. We endeavour to
was awarded the CBE in 2002 for
certificate covers multiple plants. openly influence the standards bodies,
services to the United Kingdom oil
and gas industry. with the aim of increasing the number
“ Strong business and improving the quality of external
ISO Focus : With operations in more benefits have come standards applicable to Group use.
As a global company, trad-
than 145 countries and a workforce of from ISO 14001 ing in international markets and with
115 000 people, the companies of the
Royal Dutch/Shell Group are engaged
certification.” contractors, suppliers and customers
who operate within a multitude of
in the business of exploration and pro-
There have been strong busi- different regulatory frameworks, it
duction, gas and power, oil products,
ness benefits that have come from is not surprising that we want to use
chemicals and renewables as well as
ISO 14001 certification. Perhaps most International Standards that are rel-
other activities.
notable has been identification of the evant to the global market.
What concrete benefits have
need for training of operational staff Our internal standards system
ISO management system standards
to enhance their awareness of relevant is being increasingly aligned with
brought the Royal Dutch/Shell Group
environmental issues and the impact standards from ISO and your sister
and what value have they added ?
on their work. This has also led to organization IEC. In 1990 we refer-
Malcolm Brinded : ISO 14000 has improve the quality of operations and, enced approximately 130 ISO and IEC
had a major impact on environmental importantly, to improve the motivation standards in our internal company stan-
awareness and procedures in our plants of our people. dards. Today we reference some 800.
4 ISO Focus April 2004

Shell International Limited
We spend a great deal on pro-
curement, of which at least USD 2
billion per year is for materials and
equipment covered by existing ISO
standards. Everyone would agree that
applying common standards saves
money in the long haul ; saving as
little as 1 % can save us USD 20 mil-
lion per year.
With such an approval, it is a
prerequisite that the applied standard
meets our needs. This is why Shell
invests in active participation in the
ISO committee work (about USD 2
million per year).
ISO Focus : What is your strategy to
link quality, environment, risk manage-
PSA Peugeot Citroën, Direction de la Communication
ment and social responsibility in your
business ?
“ Shell invests in active
participation in the
ISO committee work
(about USD 2 million
per year).”
Malcolm Brinded : Our core values
of honesty, integrity and respect for
people define how we work. These
values have been embodied for more
than 25 years in our Business Princi-
ples, which, since 1997 have includ-
ed a commitment to support human
rights and contribute to sustainable
development. These principles apply
to all Shell employees globally. We
have three Group-wide policies : Our
Business Principles ; our Health Safe-
ty and Environment (HSE) Policy ;
and our Risk and Internal Control
Policy to assess and manage business
risks. The CEO of each Shell business
is required to provide an annual assur-
ance that these Group-wide policies
have been fully met and implement-
ed, based on a comprehensive ‘ bot-
tom-up ’ written assurance process
from every business in every country.
ISO Focus : How do you assess the
partnership between the international
oil and gas industry and ISO ? What
future role would you like to see ISO
play ?
Malcolm Brinded : I think the part-
nership is a good one. I can only speak
for Shell ; however we are members
of a number of industry associations
such as the American Petroleum Insti-
tute (API), the International Associa-
tion of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP)
ISO Focus April 2004 5
Guest View
and the European Petroleum Industry
Association (Europia). These organi-
zations act as catalysts to prioritize Company Profile
standards that are seen as most need-
ed. ISO’s role is to act as a facilitator, The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies are a global group of energy
with the flexibility to develop the and petrochemicals companies, operating in over 145 countries and employ-
standards the industry needs within ing more than 115 000 people.
the required timeframe. Shell is best known to the public for our service stations and for exploring
At Shell we appreciate the and producing oil and gas on land and at sea. But we deliver a much wider
cooperation between ISO and CEN, range of energy solutions and petrochemicals to customers. These include
avoiding the proliferation of compet- transporting and trading oil and gas, marketing natural gas, producing and
ing European standards. ISO should selling fuel for ships and planes, generating electricity and providing energy
continue to encourage its members to efficiency advice.
adopt ISO standards as their national Shell also produces and sells petrochemical building blocks to industrial cus-
standards. Their other challenge is to tomers globally. These go into plastics, coatings and detergents used to make
be continuously active in finding new many modern products like fibres and textiles, insulation, medical equipment
ways to improve the efficiency of and components for lighter, efficient vehicles.
developing and maintaining the stan-
Renewables and Shell Hydrogen are small, but growing businesses, investing
dards ; not an easy task, but a neces-
in making renewable and lower-carbon energy sources competitive for large-
sary one.
scale use.
ISO Focus : What International Some Facts about Shell
Standards, other than those uniquely
related to your industry, do you imple- • Shell companies produce more than 3,5 % of global gas and approximately
ment in your organization or think 3 % of the world’s oil, similar to other major private oil and gas companies.
should be developed ? • Shell produces 13 % of the world’s solar panels.
Malcolm Brinded : We rely on many • Every four seconds a plane is refuelled by Shell Aviation.
standards that we share with other • In that time, 1 200 cars visit a Shell service station.
industries, including supporting stan-
dards for testing, materials, welding,
and personnel qualification, as well
as standards for heavy machinery such
as pressure vessels, steam turbines,
compressors etc. As these increas-
ingly become ISO standards, our work
becomes more efficient by not having
multiple regional, national and indus-
try standards to work through.
The full benefit of ISO standards
will not accrue until the majority of the
supporting standards needed are also
ISO standards, with ISO’s role being to
provide these supporting standards. We
need a complete and coherent set. It is
a major step forward for us to have an
ISO standard for the casing and tubing
that we use for our oil and gas wells, or
an ISO standard for the heat exchang-
ers in our offshore platforms and refin-
eries, but the full value is not achieved
Shell International Limited

until the supporting standards, includ-

ing literally the nuts, bolts and gaskets
are also ISO standards.

6 ISO Focus April 2004

 Main Focus
Drilling deep
Copyright BP Plc.
T
he petroleum and natural gas
industry is a very visible busi-
ness sector in the global market-
place. The actual employment numbers
for the industry are estimated to be
between 1,5 and 2 million, figures that
may be conservative as each megacom-
pany employs over 100 000 people, and
many integrated companies employ
50 000 and above.
The ISO technical committee,
ISO/TC 67, that develops standards
for materials, equipment and offshore
structures for the petroleum, petro-
chemical and natural gas industries,
comprises many economic players
in this vast sector. Contributors from
ISO/TC 67 as well as those from other
committees and organizations explain
the reasons that lead each economic
actor to develop, support and use ISO’s
and IEC’s International Standards, and
the importance of including all ISO’s
stakeholders in the process.
Finding and producing oil and
natural gas is becoming more difficult,
as the easily attained sources have
long been depleted. Activity is migrat-
ing to more challenging areas with
lesser quality reservoirs and in more
inhospitable climates and situations,
and is requiring a shift in the technol-
ogy to overcome these new obstacles.
Technology is key to accessing, trans-
porting and refining these raw materi-
als to finished products that meet a
world demand and can still be pro-
duced at an attractive consumer price.
And with changes in technologies will
come changes in the standards cur-
rently being prepared. There is a time
delay for the experimental solutions to
be validated by field application but
eventually the successful experiments
will become market norms.
Interchangeability of parts is
an operational requisite and operators
see international standardization as
a way to gain consensus among the
participants to attain this requirement.
By defining the basic requirements via
standardization, operator, manufacturer
and/or service-supply and regulators
benefit. Operators seek to have tech-
nically equivalent equipment avail-
able worldwide, and reduce the need
for internal company specifications.
Manufacturers and suppliers find stan-
dards a major method to define product
specifications and economically to pro-
duce equipment for the entire industry.
Standards writers attempt to prepare
standards for commonly available
equipment, which represent broadly
available products – not “ one-off ” pro-
prietary or patented products.
At the same time, indigenous
populations, environmental conserva-
tion groups, legislators, regulators,
employees and suppliers influence the
viability of any location. Standards
also include health, safety, environmen-
tal and conservation precautions, which
protect workers, populations in general
and the surroundings. Legislators enact
the rulings to provide for this health,
safety and environmental demand.
Regulators must enact criteria for oper-
ation that address these rulings, and find
that incorporation of standards eases the
volume of technical criteria that must be
written into regulations. The regulators
wish to participate in international
standardization as part of the world
community, as national borders do not
end the responsibility for health, safety
and environment. Regulators are able
to make certain their responsibility is
covered as concerns health, safety and
environmental protection.
Early petroleum and gas industry
standardization is said to have started
in Azerbaijan late in the 19 th century.
Modern oil industry standardization
ISO Focus April 2004 7
Main Focus
started in the American Petroleum
Institute (API) in 1923 and variations
were adopted worldwide. By the 1980’s,
however, there were significant driv-
ers for change. There were significant
European variants arising from the
North Sea. There was also pressure for
European Standards in order to create
the “ Single Market ”, with the utili-
ties, energy and “ extractive ” industries
attracting particular political attention.
The current international standardization
activities of the oil industry in ISO com-
menced in 1988 with the reactivation of
ISO/TC 67 under API leadership. Today,
the work programme stands at nearly
150 standards (56 % of API origin) of
which 97 have been published at least
once (excluding eight so-called fast-track
standards which are now in revision).
China has announced that it will
block-adopt ISO standards as Chinese
national standards, many concerned
Assessing the global industry through the two main
oil and gas committees, ISO/TC 28,
with the petroleum and gas industry, value of Petroleum products and lubricants,
and ISO/TC 67, Materials, equipment,
over the next three years (see p. 23).
By establishing in 2003 a new federal partnerships and offshore structures for the petro-
leum, petrochemical, and natural gas
law on technical regulating, Russia
opens up for use of international stan- industries.
dards and a wider industry participa-
tion in the Russian standards work. Measuring the need for
“ GOST state standards will become
By the Leadership Team of
ISO/API oil and natural gas petroleum standards
voluntary national standards, and
when making the new set of standards, committees 1) API has a long history of
priority would be given to using avail- developing petroleum measurement

T
he American Petroleum
able International Standards, including standards. Over the years, API has
Institute (API) is the US
those available from ISO/TC 67,” says developed relationships with other
petroleum industry’s primary
the OGP Bulletin. organizations, such as ASTM Inter-
trade association. Its membership of
When making the new set of national, the American Gas Associa-
approximately 400 companies covers
standards, priority would go to using tion, the Gas Processors Association,
all aspects of the oil and natural gas
available International Standards, and the Institute of Petroleum, and
industry, including exploration, pro-
including those available from ISO/TC has sometimes published joint meas-
duction, transportation, refining, and
67. urement standards with these others
marketing. The development of con-
The movement to cooperate organizations. API’s Committee on
sensus standards is one of API’s old-
internationally is more than ever on Petroleum Measurement (COPM) has
est and most successful programmes.
the move. also played a pivotal role in the devel-
Beginning with its first standards in
opment of International Standards
1924, API now maintains some 500
through ISO/TC 28 subcommittees SC
standards covering all segments of
2, Dynamic petroleum measurement,
the oil and gas industry. In order to
achieve formal recognition for the API
standards that are already used glo- 1) Dr. Jim Bover, ExxonMobil, Chair of
bally, and to expand the application of ISO/TC 28 ; David Miller, PE, API, Director,
Standards Programme ; Bruce Reynolds,
existing standards traditionally written ChevronTexaco, Chair of API Executive
with the US industry in mind, the API Committee on Standardization of Oilfield
standards programme includes active Equipment and Materials ; Cheryl Stark,
BP, Chair of ISO/TC 67 ; L. David Wilson,
involvement in the development of Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, Chair of
ISO standards suitable for use by a API Committee on Refinery Equipment.

8 ISO Focus April 2004

 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Petroleum, petrochemical,
and natural gas industries
General sector standards
Copyright BP Plc.
Content and drafting
of a functional specification
(ISO 13879)
Content and drafting
of a technical specification
(ISO 13880)
Classification and conformity
assessment of products, processes
and services (ISO 13881)
Sector-specific quality management
systems – Requirements for product
and service supply organizations
(ISO/TS 29001)
Collection and exchange of reliabil-
ity and maintenance data for equip-
ment (ISO 14224)
Materials for use in H2S-containing
environments in oil and gas
production
Part 1: General principles for selec-
tion of cracking-resistant material
(ISO 15156-1)
Part 2: Cracking-resistant carbon and
low alloy steels, and the use of cast
irons (ISO 15156-2)
Part 3: Cracking resistant CRAs
(corrosion-resistant alloys) and other
alloys (ISO 15156-3)
Life cycle costing
Part 1: Methodology (ISO 15663-1)
Part 2: Guidance on application
of methodology and calculation
methods (ISO 15663-2)
Part 3: Implementation guidelines
(ISO 15663-3)
SC 3, Static petroleum measurement,
SC 5, Measurement of light hydro-
carbon fluids, and SC 6, Bulk cargo
transfer, accountability, inspection and
reconciliation. Indeed, API, on behalf
of ANSI, assumed the responsibility
for the secretariat of the main ISO/TC
28 committee as well as both ISO/TC
28 subcommittees SC 2 and SC 6 in
1995, and many of the international
petroleum measurement standards are
based on API standards.
“ The interface between
ISO and other petroleum
measurement standards
developers could be
enhanced in order to
eliminate any duplication
of effort.”
However, at the November
2002 ISO/TC 28 plenary meeting, it
was recognized that with the reduc-
tion in both expert and staff resources,
the effectiveness of the interaction
between the ISO/TC 28 measurement
subcommittees and, for example,
API COPM, could be improved. An
ISO/TC 28 ad-hoc task group was
established to study this issue and
to ascertain whether there was still
an actual need for ISO standards on
petroleum measurement, or whether
existing, market-relevant standards
(such as those developed by API and
others) already fulfilled the needs of
both the global industry and legislators
from around the world. After evaluat-
ing the current situation, the task group
reported back to the ISO/TC 28 Advi-
sory Group in June 2003 and recom-
mended that in general (there was not
unanimity on this subject), there was
still a need for ISO petroleum meas-
urement standards. However, the task
group recommended that the interface
between ISO and other petroleum
measurement standards developers
could be enhanced in order to lessen,
and hopefully eliminate, any duplica-
tion of effort. A meeting of all affected
parties took place in 2003, and options
were explored so that improvements in
the service provided can be achieved.
Drilling deep
Canvassing the oil and
gas industry
This collaboration with ISO
began in 1989 with the reactivation
of ISO/TC 67. At that time, API staff
canvassed the oil and gas industry
and submitted approximately 70 API
standards for the initial TC 67 work
programme. Then in 1993, API’s
Executive Committee endorsed three
principles to guide the internationaliza-
tion of API standards :
• The long-term interests of the
petroleum industry are best served
by a common set of standards ;
• These standards must be timely and
responsive to the technical, eco-
nomic and environmental needs of
the international user community ;
• A cooperative effort of American,
European and Asian petroleum
companies, affiliates, and contrac-
tors and suppliers is needed to
develop these standards efficiently.
As the ISO/TC 67 programme
grew, API assumed the role of TC
67 and SC 4, Drilling and produc-
tion equipment, secretariats in 1995
to improve coordination efforts, and
as the work programme matured,
API looked to formalize its approach
in this effort. This is reflected in the
paper “ API Standards in a Global
Environment ” which articulates the
API global standards methodology and
approach. API believes that the great-
est benefit to the oil and gas industry is
derived from common technical stand-
ards on materials and equipment, espe-
cially for procurement purposes and for
commodity products. This is reflected
in the growing number of US national
adoptions from 1 in 1999 to 25 today.
The critical need for
technical expertise
The critical success factor for
all oil and gas industry standards is
the continued availability of technical
expertise from the hundreds of volun-
teers around the globe who develop
ISO Focus April 2004 9
Main Focus
and maintain the standards. Industry committees. Its primary charge will of the standards “not” targeted for joint
consolidations, downsizing, and demo- be to balance resource requirements development with ISO.
graphics are creating major resource (people and budget) with industry API remains committed to
challenges that impact both API and standards demand. One of its key roles continuing its leadership role in stand-
ISO efforts. This resource issue is will be working with ISO/TC 67 and ardization for the oil and natural gas
further exacerbated by the additional ISO/TC 28 management committees to industry and, working with ISO, will
efforts required to take existing region- develop annually a collaborative work continue its search to find more effi-
al standards and make them suitable for programme for oil and gas standards. cient methods to develop and maintain
global use. This work programme will focus on key global standards.
To address this growing reserving the current approach of joint Information on the avail-
resource shortage, API has completed API/ISO standards development to ability of published API standards,
a strategic review of its standards pro- those areas most critical to the success or on standards under development,
gramme. This review, conducted by a and continued viability of the industry. is available from API at 1220 L
balanced team of oil and gas business In addition, the collaborative work pro- St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005,
leaders and API standards leaders gramme will strive to achieve agree- www.api.org. For more information
from both upstream and downstream, ment on what other important industry on API standards, contact David Mill-
has confirmed that the industry still standards need to be developed inde- er, API’s Director of Standardization,
strongly desires “ global ” standards. pendently (and more efficiently) with- at miller@api.org.
This team supports continuation of in either the API or the ISO structure.
API’s strategy on working with ISO to To this end, API will be working to
develop and maintain global standards expand its international participation
for the most important areas of global to promote broader global acceptance
interest – providing it can be done more
efficiently. Without a significant effi-
ciency improvement to make the most
of ever-shrinking industry resources,
the review team concluded that the via-
bility of API’s standards programme is
“ at risk ” within the next five years.
The review team has made
three key recommendations to address
the efficiency improvement challenge.
First, API will be completing a full
review of its entire suite of 500-plus
standards to make sure that we are
making the best use of current limited
resources. Secondly, API will be intro-
ducing a resource model that makes
broader use of contracted technical
experts to help facilitate the standards
development process. Thirdly, API is
making significant changes in its gov-
ernance to better address the growing
resource challenges.

API governance
structure changes
One of the key governance
structure changes includes the devel-
Photo courtesy PSA Norway

opment of a senior level committee

that will provide oversight to all API
“ standards-based ” programmes. This
group will consist of a blend of industry
business leaders and the senior officers
of the executive level API standards
10 ISO Focus April 2004
 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Pipeline transportation
systems
Drilling deep
Copyright BP Plc.

Pipeline transportation systems

(ISO 13623)

Pipeline transportation systems

– Pipeline valves (ISO 14313)
– Welding of pipelines (ISO 13847)
– Subsea pipeline valves (ISO 14723)

Induction bends, fittings and flanges

for pipeline transportation systems
– Part 1 : Induction bends
(ISO 15590-1)
– Part 2: Fittings (ISO 15590-2)
Cathodic protection of pipeline
transportation systems
– Part 1 : On-land pipelines
(ISO 15589-1)
Steel pipe for pipelines – Technical
Standards as for materials and equipment at the ISO
and IEC levels ? What about standards
a strategic for products, and for alternative energy
sources ?
business asset In the field of exploration and
production, the industry is spending
at an annual rate of perhaps USD 350
billion all across the world. The sup-
By Graham A. N. Thomas, ply chain has a mixture of global and
Head of Engineering local companies, with significant cross-
Standards, BP border trade. Processing plant for the
refining and manufacture of fuels and

W
delivery conditions hy is an industry that has petrochemicals are also being installed
operated successfully world- worldwide. Global standards are need-
– Part 1 : Pipes of requirement wide for many years with ed, both to facilitate efficient procure-
class A (ISO 3183-1) industry standards developed outside ment in the world market, and to ensure
– Part 2 : Pipes of requirements the recognized national/international that materials and equipment are con-
class B (ISO 3183-2) system, now developing key standards sistently safe and reliable to operate.
– Part 3 : Pipes of requirement
class C (ISO 3183-3) International

ISO/IEC

ANSI National
NACE JISC AFNOR
ASME Industry DIN

IP
Company EEMUA
PIP NORSOK
Figure 1 – The chequer-board ABS DnV
of organizations that develop engineering
standards for the petroleum and Owner & users, contractors,
natural gas industry.
suppliers, manufacturers
ISO Focus April 2004 11
Main Focus
The need of one
umbrella for all
There is however a chequer-
board of organizations that develop
engineering documents ; this is illus-
trated in Figure 1. Companies have
their own “ standards ” but may also
use documents from private organiza-
tions, from industry associations and
from national standards bodies.
igure 2a – API
61 and EN ISO
3706.
In the USA, there are several
hundred Standards Developing Organi-
zations (SDOs) that operate independ-
ently and develop national standards
under ANSI (American National
Standards Institute) rules. ANSI pro-
vides the US interface with ISO and
IEC. The SDOs tend to focus on spe-
cific industries or disciplines and, while
they often cooperate with each other,
they may also develop overlapping or
conflicting standards.
In Europe, the national stand-
ards bodies with the large and inde-
pendent collections of standards are
now replacing their national standards
with the new pan-European standards
of the same scope.
ISO and IEC provide the rec-
ognized umbrella for all these organi-
zations to come together with bodies
from other countries, and develop com-
mon international standards that can be
adopted without modification by the
national standards bodies worldwide.
By contrast with CEN, the adoption
of resulting ISO/IEC standards is on
a voluntary basis, although the WTO
12 ISO Focus April 2004
TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade)
Agreement provides an incentive to
adopt them.
Pooling resources
for cost-efficient
development
Standards are a strategic busi-
ness asset. The economic benefit of
nation-wide standardization was shown
in a German (DIN) study in 2000, to be
1 % of GDP. For estimated oil and gas
industry CAPEX of USD 350 billion,
this translates into an annual global
industry standards impact of USD 200-
500 million. Standards also serve to
improve industry safety and reliability
and reduce regulatory burden.
“ In petroleum
exploration and
production, the industry
is spending at an annual
rate of perhaps
USD 350 billion all across
the world.”
ISO provides a framework in
which Americans, Europeans and oth-
ers can pool resources in order to main-
tain global industry standards that can
be adopted without modification local-
ly. This is cost-efficient for standards
development, and more importantly,
for global trade and operation.
When the content of an ISO
standard is adopted worldwide, the
industry can operate to consist-
ent standards everywhere. Industry
standards (whether local, regional or
international) contribute to the set of
standards and practices used at a site
or operation. For multi-national oil
companies now, the approach is to
rely as far as possible on international
industry standards and/or other indus-
try standards and practices. Company
knowledge and requirements based
on experience is captured first in
company documents, and then trans-
ferred to the industry standards where
industry consensus can be achieved.
The objective for a company is to
operate safely and responsibly while
maximizing its return on capital
employed, and therefore to maximize
the life cycle value of materials and
equipment purchased.
A single team brings
together all economic
players
A significant success in 2003
has been the development of ISO/TS
29001, Petroleum, petrochemical and
natural gas industries – Sector-specific
quality management systems – Require-
ments for product and service supply
organizations, simultaneously with a
revision of the API Q1 Quality System,
updated to the new ISO 9001:2000. A
single industry team was created from
ISO/TC 67 and the API Quality com-
mittee. It brought together oil indus-
try and quality experts from ISO/TC
176, Quality management and quality
assurance, from the API Monogram
Programme, under the leadership of a
former Chair of the IAF (International
Accreditation Forum). The resulting
About the author
Graham
Thomas has
een Head of
Engineering
Standards for BP
nd Chairman of
he BSI commit-
ee for oil indus-
ry equipment
ince 1990.
He is a long-
standing member of the global industry
team that has been establishing key indus-
try standards in ISO, for adoption without
modification worldwide, and for which he
leads the United Kingdom delegation to
ISO/TC 67. Graham Thomas is Chairman
of the European Petroleum Industry Asso-
ciation group for refinery equipment,
Member of the Board of Directors of the
ASME Codes and Standards Technology
Institute, Member of the Quality Commit-
tee of the American Petroleum Institute
(API) and, since 2002, Chairman of ISO/
TC 118/SC 1, Process compressors.
 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Fluids
Copyright BP Plc.
Field testing of drilling fluids
– Part 1 : Water-based fluids
(ISO 10414-1)
– Part 2 : Oil-based fluids
(ISO 10414-2)
Drilling fluids
– Laboratory testing (ISO 10416)
Drilling fluid materials –
Specifications and tests
(ISO 13500)
Cements and materials for well
cementing
– Part 1 : Specification
(ISO 10426-1)
– Part 2 : Testing of well cements
(ISO 10426-2)
– Part 3 : Testing of deep-water well
cement formulations
(ISO 10426-3)
– Part 4 : Preparation and testing
of atmospheric foam cement
slurries at atmospheric pressure
(ISO 10426-4)
Equipment for well cementing
– Part 1 : Bow-spring casing
centralizers (ISO 10427-1)
– Part 3 : Performance testing
of cementing float equipment
(ISO 10427-3)
Completion fluids and materials
– Part 1 : Measurement of viscous
properties of completion fluids
(ISO 13503-1)
Drilling deep
document incorporates ISO 9001:
2000 verbatim, with supplementary
requirements for the oil/petrochemical and the scope for international or glo-
industry clearly identified and adopted bal standards is limited by the differ-
identically in ISO/TS 29001 and in API ences in regulatory approach.
Q1, seventh edition. The API Quality Regulations for fuels and the
Registrar can now offer a single audit consequent standards for oil products
that provides all the certification neces- and their test methods are evolving
sary for ISO 9001, ISO/TS 29001 and worldwide towards similar techni-
the API Licensing Programme (Mono- cal solutions but at different speeds.
gram). Therefore when a standard is needed
quickly in one region but not others,
a regional or national standard will be
“ Global standards developed first and the ISO system will
follow when there is a global need.
facilitate efficient
procurement in the world
market, and ensure that
materials and equipment
are consistently safe and
reliable to operate.”
Another measure of success is
the (small but) increasing number of
these ISO standards that are adopted
without modification as “ co-branded ”
API-ISO and EN-ISO standards. Figure
2a shows the outcome of an original
API standard having been offered to
Figure 2b – EN
ISO, that was further developed in ISO,
ISO 14310 and API
and that has now been adopted identi- 11D1.
cally both as EN ISO 13706 and as API
661 Fifth edition. There are about 20
ex-API standards that have achieved Standardization of new tech-
this status, with more expected. Figure nology presents similar challenges.
2b shows the outcome of a standard that Whether this is technology for deep-
was initiated in CEN but was transferred water oil production or for hydrogen
to ISO under the Vienna Agreement (for manufacturing and distribution as an
ISO-CEN cooperation), and that has alternative fuel, the technology devel-
now been adopted identically both as opment requires standards that can
EN ISO 14310 and as the first edition evolve rapidly. Such standards in the
API 11D1. first instance are best developed out
of the technology itself but, due to
The interface with the national and commercial interests
involved, we are seeing development
regulations is a challenge
of competing technology that will
The industry, then, is delivering strive to dominate the market. The
ISO and IEC standards for key fields scope for meaningful international
of operation. The interface with regu- standardization will emerge as the mar-
lations, however, presents an ongoing ket matures.
challenge. Industry standards play an
important role in being accepted by reg-
ulators for compliance. Such standards
Passive Fire Systems
are normally developed on a national
or regional basis with a degree of par-
ISO Focus April 2004 13
Main Focus

Only one
standard is
needed
By Alan Grant, Executive
Director, International
Association of Oil and Gas
Producers

T
he global upstream industry has
one standards objective :
We want a single standard
for each subject that requires a
standard.
The International Association
of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) has
served as a catalyst to achieve this on
the industry’s behalf.
OGP’s position on standards is
straightforward :
• The development and use of ISO
and IEC International Standards
should be promoted ;
• Standards should be simple and fit
for purpose ;
• International Standards should be
used without modification wher- • Minimize additional company
ever possible ; requirements ;
• Development of standards should • Ensure any variations are justified About the author
be based on a consensus of need ; technically and/or commercially ;
Alan Grant
• Duplication of effort should be • Ensure continuous improvement
ecame Execu-
avoided ; via feedback from users ; ive Director of
• Company specifications should be • Influence external standards bodies he International
minimized and written, where pos- through active participation in the Association of
Oil & Gas Pro-
sible, as functional requirements ; technical committees and working
ducers (OGP) in
groups of key external standards.
• ‘Users’ should be represented on February, 2001.
standards work groups. OGP’s own long-standing His career with
Standards Committee is formed from he oil and gas
To achieve this, OGP works ndustry spans
representatives of our member com-
with ISO and other standards organi- some 30 years and includes assignments in
panies. Typically, an OGP Standards
zations at national and regional levels. Oman, Brunei, Russia, the Netherlands and
Committee representative is the person
Additionally, a number of large com- the United Kingdom. In December, 2000
in the oil and gas company responsible he returned from Yuzhno Sakhalinsk in
panies have now developed standards
for the management or coordination of Siberia, where he was President of Sakha-
policies along the lines of OGP’s posi-
technical standards. The OGP Stand- lin Energy Investment Company, to live in
tion. Typically these policies :
ards Committee monitors, coordi- the UK after 25 years abroad. In addition
• Maximize use of common industry nates and influences the development to his work in OGP, he is (non-executive)
standards (international if possi- of International Standards to meet the Chairman of the Board of Maersk Oil
ble) ; needs of OGP members. There is close (UK) Limited.

14 ISO Focus April 2004

 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Drilling and production

equipment
Drilling deep
communication between the nation-
al associations, particularly one of
are not yet universally applied, at least
OGP’s members, the American Petro-
they are available and their application
leum Institute (API). OGP’s Standards
is widening all the time.
Committee also monitors and influenc-
This is proof that for the
Copyright BP Plc.

es relevant European standards.

Drilling and production equipment
– Drill stem design and operating
limits (ISO 10407)
– Wellhead and christmas tree
equipment (ISO 10423)
– Drill through equipment
(ISO 13533)
– Inspection, maintenance, repair
and remanufacture of hoisting
equipment (ISO 13534)
– Hoisting equipment (ISO 13535)
– Marine drilling riser couplings
(ISO 13625)
– Drilling and well-servicing
structures (ISO 13626)
– Drilling and well-servicing
equipment (ISO 14693)
– Sucker rods (pony rods, polished
rods, couplings and sub-couplings)
– Specifications (ISO 10428)
Pumping units
– Specifications (ISO 10431)
Subsurface safety valve systems
– Design, installation, operation and
repair (ISO 10417)
Downhole equipment
– Subsurface safety valve equipment
(ISO 10432)
– Packers and bridge plugs
(ISO 14310)
– Lock mandrels and landing nipples
(ISO 16070)
Progressing cavity pump systems for
artificial lift
– Part 1 : Pumps (ISO 15136-1)
Interchangeability of fit,
form and function
The history of upstream oil
and gas industry standards goes back
to 1923, when API first sought to pro-
vide interchangeability of fit, form and
function between equipment of dif-
ferent suppliers and users. American
standards subsequently formed the
basis of our industry standardization.
However, developments in the North
Sea in the 1970s and gas production
in the Far East and Australasia in
the 1980s required a step change in
Mégane: Frontal collision against
technology. The industry continued to
deformable obstacle at speed of 64
use American standards, but with an
kpm (EuroNCAP – European New Car
increasing amount of company amend-
Assessment Programme type test).
ments and supplements.
“ We want a single
standard for each subject
that requires a standard.”
European standardization was
given a huge injection of energy in
the 1980s and 1990s through the draft-
ing and subsequent adoption of the
concepts of the ‘ Public Procurement ’
Directives and the so-called ‘ New
Approach ’ Directives. In 1991 the
Vienna Agreement between ISO and
the European CEN was signed to avoid
duplication of effort and facilitate the
use of ISO standards within Europe.
This developed into a simple
model, i.e. make use of the best of
American technology (standards)
and use this as the basis of an ISO
upstream standard with minimum
modification to make it truly globally
applicable. This was the genesis of
ISO/TC 67.
ISO/TC 67 is now delivering.
By the end of last year, we saw the
publication of 92 ISO standards cover-
ing a vast variety of equipment used by
the oil and gas industry. Though they
majority of component type standards
– whether for projects, materials,
welding, testing or other parts of the
quality control system – there is no
call for divergence. Clearly, only one
standard is needed. To help achieve
this singularity, OGP will continue to
be a major provider of resources into
standards development.
What is OGP?
Since its founding 30 years ago,
OGP has grown to include 56 oil and
gas companies, industry associations
and major service providers. Today,
OGP members produce more than
half of the world’s oil and over a
third of its gas.
OGP exists to :
• Represent the interests of the
upstream industry before interna-
tional regulatory and legislative
bodies ;
• Achieve continuous improve-
ments in safety, health and envi-
ronmental performance and in
the engineering and operation of
upstream ventures ; and
• Promote awareness of corpo-
rate social responsibility issues
within the industry and among
stakeholders.
OGP has offices in both London and
Brussels ; for further information
visit http://www.ogp.org.uk/.
ISO Focus April 2004 15
Main Focus

Capturing

Photo courtesy PSA Norway

Standardized products, such as
those commodities covered by many
the added value of the ISO/TC 67 standards, tend to
become less costly than specialized
ISO/TC 67 products, delivered in small quantities.
It is therefore fair to say that ISO/TC
67 has a positive impact on the cost
effectiveness of the industry it serves.
By Alf Reidar Johansen, Hydro ISO/TC 67 has a positive impact
ASA, Norway, Chairman OGP overall. It is up to us – the users of
Standards Committee, member standards – to capture the value added
of ISO/TC 67 by making use of these standards and
thus capitalize on the work put in.

Q
uestion : What is one entitled
to expect from ISO technical
committee TC 67 ?
Answer : In all logic, standards
to add value for the global oil and nat- About the author
ural gas industries, to be used locally
Alf Reidar
worldwide.
ohansen started
Has ISO/TC 67 delivered ? Yes, work with Det
it definitely has : by the end of 2003, Norske Veritas
well over 100 standards have been DNV) in 1968
published for use by the industry at n the Ship
large. standards to suit the needs of this large Heavy Machin-
Let us take one example – ISO and globally oriented energy industry. ry Department
Heated discussions may take place, or two years,
11960:2001, Petroleum and natural
hen Offshore
gas industries – Steel pipes for use as experiences and views are exchanged,
Department until
casing or tubing for wells – a stand- but, in the end, consensus prevails. 1984. He worked for the Norwegian
ard for materials for making casing Here we see how TC 67’s standards authorities inspecting pipe laying at the
and tubing. This standard was devel- have a positive impact on experience Ekofisk field in the North Sea.
oped by an ISO/TC 67 subcommittee and knowledge transfer amongst those In 1984, he joined Saga Petroleum, a pri-
(SC 5, Casing, tubing and drill pipe, that participate. vate oil company, working with develop-
chaired by Japan) in close cooperation During development of the ment of specifications for new offshore
with the related API committee. It has ISO/TC 67 standards, much experience platforms. He was project manager for the
been adopted by the USA as API is derived from the experts participat- development of the Norwegian offshore
5CT/ISO 11960, by the Europeans as ing. These experts typically come from industry (NORSOK) standards 1996-98,
industrial companies with an interna- continuing in Saga (that became Norsk
EN-ISO 11960, and is, furthermore,
Hydro after the merger) until today as
adopted by national standards bod- tional agenda and normally with a
standards manager for the company’s oil
ies around the globe and recognized wealth of experience in their field and gas activities.
by the industry worldwide. It allows of expertise. Valuable information is He is Norway’s head of delegation to ISO/
all the casing and tubing manufactur- passed from those soon to retire to the TC 67 and CEN/TC 12 from its start till
ers around the globe to make quality younger engineers, thereby “ securiz- 1998. He was a member of OGP Standards
pipes for the use of a very large indus- ing ” this knowledge and experience Committee from 1986 and has been chair-
try. The result is one single standard within the industry. By implementing man since 1993.
for global application by the industry the resulting ISO/TC 67 standards and
for the procurements of casing and applying them to the commodities,
tubing. Hence, a positive impact on systems and practices they describe,
global trade. good and tested solutions are thereby
Another example of advan- applied and further tested and matured
tages gained is the international expert during regular maintenance of the
networking activities that arise from standards. This ensures safety, right
the ISO/TC 67 work. In this context, from the design stage to operation of
many technical experts from around the plants themselves. Visibly, ISO/TC
the globe meet to discuss the tech- 67 also has a positive impact on educa-
nical details of new or revised ISO tion and safety within our industry.
16 ISO Focus April 2004

I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Subsea production systems
Copyright BP Plc.
Photo courtesy Norsk Hydro
Flexible pipe systems for subsea and
marine riser applications
(ISO 10420)
Design and operation of subsea
production systems
– Part 1 : General requirements and
recommendations (ISO 13628-1)
– Part 2 : Flexible pipe systems for
subsea and marine applications
(ISO 13628-2)
– Part 3 : Through flowline (TFL)
systems (ISO 13628-3)
– Part 4 : Subsea wellhead and tree
equipment (ISO 13628-4)
– Part 5 : Subsea umbilicals
(ISO 13628-5)
– Part 6 : Subsea production control
systems (ISO 13628-6)
– Part 8 : Remotely Operated Vehicle
(ROV) interfaces on subsea produc-
tion systems (ISO 13628-8)
– Part 9 : Remotely Operated Tool
(ROT) intervention systems
(ISO 13628-9)
Offshore
structures –
the imperatives
of safety and
security
by Richard Snell, Chair,
ISO/TC 67/SC 7, Offshore
structures, BP Exploration
Senior Advisor – Structures and
Civil Engineering
T
he oil industry operates world-
wide, and the offshore struc-
tures’ design, materials supply
and fabrication companies that serve
the oil industry are dispersed through-
out the world. An offshore platform, if
not designed, constructed and oper-
ated correctly, can be a dangerous
place. It is also often a very big capital
investment, providing an important
component of a country’s economy
and energy supply. A known and
internationally consistent high level
of structural integrity is essential to
meet safety, investment and security of
energy supply requirements.
The oil industry is developing a
new suite of ISO structural standards
for the design and operation of offshore
structures. The scope of work encom-
passed by the standards includes fixed
steel and concrete platforms, floating
structures comprising a diverse range
of hull forms with their associated sta-
tion-keeping requirements, site-specif-
ic assessment of mobile offshore units
(mainly drilling jack up platforms and
semi-submersibles) and arctic struc-
tures. The standards are ISO 19900
(published) to ISO 19906 (at various
stages of development).
Drilling deep
The provision of a single suite
of ISO offshore structures standards
will directly enhance the safety and
economic performance of the industry.
The enhancement will primarily be
in developing regions where existing
standards may not be best current
technology or where the application
of standards may be inconsistent. It
is in these regions that a considerable
proportion of the new investment in
offshore structures will be made ; thus
the standards initiative is timely and
will make an important contribution to
the industry.
The oil industry is highly regu-
lated and, in a number of countries,
regulators have developed national
regulations governing the design and
operation of offshore oil fields. With
the development of an ISO offshore
structures standard, the need for
national regulations to address detailed
aspects of structural design will be
substantially reduced.
“ The need for national
regulations to address
detailed aspects of
structural design will
be reduced.”
In addition to the oil companies
that own the platforms, regulators, in
particular, take a close interest in the
integrity of structures as they age or
when their use changes as a result of the
addition of new equipment. Technical
improvements are enabling more oil to
be extracted from existing fields often
requiring platforms to be modified and
used beyond their original design life.
The ISO offshore structure standards
provide guidance on assessment of the
suitability of structures for extended
and new operation, thus meeting an
increasingly important need.
The work is being undertaken
by ISO subcommittee TC 67/SC 7
which has engaged a worldwide group
of more than 300 technical experts
from oil companies, contractors, con-
sultants, classification societies and
regulators.
ISO Focus April 2004 17
Main Focus
Varying design and
construction practices
The different structural forms
and materials each have different exist-
ing design and construction practices.
Ship-shaped structures have a consid-
erable history of technical develop-
ment over centuries. Fixed platforms
are comparatively recent, with most
of the technical development being
within the last 40 years. The ISO
suite of offshore structures standards
has been planned to provide both
consistency between historic practice
where needed – such as definition
of the marine environment, seismic
loads, topsides structural design and
marine operations – and to respect and
build on proven existing best practice
appropriate to each type of structure.
In preparing the new standards, TC
67/SC 7 has developed strong links
to – and gained the participation and
active support of – the developers of
the existing design and construction
practices. These are primarily the
American Petroleum Institute (API),
the classification societies and regula-
tors in countries with national design
regulations. Other organizations that
About the author
Richard Snell is
Senior Advisor
Structures and
Civil Engineer-
ng at BP, work-
ng for BP’s
Exploration
Production Tech-
ology Group at
he companies
Research and
Engineering Center at Sunbury-on-
Thames, United Kingdom. He has more
than 30 years experience in marine and
offshore engineering. He is currently chair
of ISO/TC 67/SC 7, Offshore structures.
Richard Snell is the author or co-author
of 30 technical papers on offshore engi-
neering. He graduated in Civil Engineering
from Leeds University in 1969 and is
a Fellow of the Institution of Civil
Engineers. He is a Fellow of the Royal
Academy of Engineering.
18 ISO Focus April 2004
have an active interest in the devel-
opment of sound structural standards
such as IMO and the International
Association of Drilling Contractors
(IADC) also directly or indirectly
participate.
The standards address only
the aspects that are unique to the oil
industry. This is essentially the marine
environment, functional duty, ultimate
serviceability, temporary and acciden-
tal conditions, safety considerations,
operation and inspection and the
structural components and foundations
or anchors used in platform sub-struc-
tures. The topsides structure (items on
the deck of a platform) is usually fab-
ricated from heavy conventional steel
sections and, for this design, actions
and functional requirements are speci-
fied but reference is made to other
standards for component design.
The scale of the undertaking
in preparing this suite of standards is
substantial. For example the fixed steel
platforms standard ISO/CD 19902 will
be approximately 600 pages. Roughly
60 % of the design equations in ISO/
CD 19902 further develop prior best
practice.
Copyright Total
Applied
regionally,
effective
internationally –
in Europe
By Alain Loppinet,
Chair CEN/TC 12
T
he petroleum, petrochemical and
natural gas industries in Europe
are essentially international by
the wide localization of oil and gas
deposits. The customers and the refin-
eries and plants, situated in European
countries, nevertheless mean that they
need to be looked at from a European
perspective, too.
European regulations laid out
for the most part in EU Directives need
to be followed, and base documents
have – at least – not to be in conflict
with any Essential Safety Requirement
included in the “ New Approach ”
Directives. A few EU Directives also
demand the exclusive use of European
standards if they exist (Public Procure-
ment for petroleum excludes certain
sectors [exploration-production]).
We need standards
for Europe
Our industries are an integral
part of the international community and
share their goals. We are fully in agree-
ment with the slogan: Global standards
used locally worldwide, as well as the
 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Subsea production systems
Copyright BP Plc.
Care and use of casing and tubing
(ISO 10405)
Steel pipes for use as casing or
tubing for wells (ISO 11960)
Steel pipes for use as drill pipe
– Specification
(ISO 11961)
Field inspection of new casing,
tubing and plain end drill pipe
(ISO 15463)
Formulae and calculations for
casing, tubing, and drill pipe perfor-
mance properties (ISO 10400)
Procedures for testing casing and
tubing connections (ISO 13679)
Corrosion resistant alloy seamless
tubes for use as casing, tubing, and
coupling stock (ISO 13680)
Evaluation and testing of thread
compounds for use with casing,
tubing and line pipe (ISO 13678)
Aluminium alloy drill pipe
(ISO 15546)
one that has it : Do it once, do it right,
do it internationally. This being so, we,
as an industry, have decided in Europe
to adopt the International Standards of
ISO/TC 67, but also to take an active
part in the writing of these standards so
that our interests and regulatory con-
cerns are taken into account.
The Vienna Agreement was a
tool created by ISO and CEN at the
precise moment that we were initiating
international work on standards, with a
view principally to proposing a coun-
ter-balance to the influence of API and
upgrading the API documents. It cor-
responded perfectly to our needs, and
European industry decided to set up
CEN/TC 12 as a mirror committee of
ISO/TC 67 in order to create a collec-
tion of European standards that suited
the Europe context and were identical
as far as possible to their international
counterparts.
Each time a new work item is
initialized and voted within ISO/TC 67,
a vote is held in CEN/TC 12 amongst
European members to know whether to
take it into the CEN/TC 12 programme,
on condition that five European coun-
tries nominate experts to participate in
the ISO/TC 67 work to promote Euro-
pean concerns and needs.
We defend our interests
The EN ISO standards (ISO
standards adopted via the Vien-
na Agreement process) are neither
compulsory nor harmonized between
themselves (they are presumed to con-
form to the EU Directives). However,
by their construction and by design, if
they are not in conflict with any Direc-
tive, they can be used in Europe with-
out any problem. In addition, they have
to be adopted in every European coun-
try as national standards and any other
national standard existing on the same
subject has to be cancelled.
Let’s turn to the challenges this
seemingly simple structure poses :
Î The European gas supply
industries have their own interests,
and do not want to apply ISO/TC 67/
SC 2 standards (pipeline transmission
systems) for various reasons, some
of them technical. In CEN/TC 12, we
had to exclude this industry from our
scope in order now to have EN stand-
ards (modified within ISO) identical
in content but not in their scopes. Our
final goal is nevertheless to have only
one standard for both industries.
Î References to standards :
CEN, just as ISO, wants to live with
homogeneous systems ; to do so, we
are going to use EN and ISO standards
when they exist as normative references
(mainly for materials, tests, measure-
ment etc.). But in our industry, led
for many years by the USA with API
providing the standards, a lot of Ameri-
can references are included (60 % of
our EN ISO standards are based on
Drilling deep
API documents). But this does not in
any way stop European suppliers from
manufacturing and selling equipment
everywhere in the world. To solve
this problem, our experts are asked
wherever possible to find EN or ISO
equivalents to US references.
Î The Pressure Equipment
Directive also posed a problem to our
refineries insofar as piping systems
were concerned, that we used to build
according to ASME B31-3. In ISO, we
developed ISO 15649, Piping, identical
to ASME B31-3, and within Europe,
with the help of our ad hoc group
AH5 of EUROPIA and EEMUA, we
prepared a Technical Report indicat-
ing how to use ISO 15649 and be in
conformity with the essential safety
requirement of the Pressure Equipment
Directive.
Î We now have in our CEN/
TC 12 collection of European stand-
ards :
59 EN ISO standards ;
3 EN (ISO-modified) standards ;
1 CEN TR (technical report).
Î Thus, in Europe, we have
EN standards identical to ISO stand-
ards for our industry, and suppliers can
manufacture more of the same equip-
ment anywhere at a lower price.
Î Our industry would like
to see the same level of success in the
API arena, and have more ISO stand-
ards adopted back by American Petro-
leum Institute so that our goal of :
global standards used locally
worldwide
will become a reality every-
where throughout the world.
About the author
Alain Loppinet is Chair, CEN/
TC 12, Materials, equipment
and offshore structures for
petroleum, petrochemical and
natural gas industries.
ISO Focus April 2004 19
 Photo courtesy PSA Norway
Main Focus
Standards had become intricate and complex to
to the aid enforce, maintain, and interpret, and
increasingly outdated with respect
of regulation to the pace of the general technical
development of the industry. This led
in Norway to frequent and resource-consuming
updating of the regulations.
A revision of the legal frame-
work took place in 1985 and reflect-
By Odd Bjerre Finnestad, ed important changes in the regula-
Advisor to the Management of tory regime. The revised regulations
the Petroleum Safety Authority were, as far as practicable, expressed
(PSA) Norway in terms of functional or goal-setting
requirements, i. e. they stated the pur-
poses of the requirements rather than
specifying the technical solution. This
“ Standards are vehicles
for promoting good
Photo courtesy PSA Norway
practice by providing
authoritative definitions
of what is good practice.”
type of regulatory framework offers a
freedom to choose technical solutions
that are optimal with regard to the par-
A
t the point when the petro-
ticular field developments and compat-
leum (Exploration-Production)
industry was introduced into ible with corporate philosophies. Those
Norway in the late 1960s, no frame- who have to implement them, howev-
work of regulations incorporating er, need some guidance with regard to
assessing what the regulator sees as
requirements to health, safety and
environment existed. being acceptable technical solutions or
When the Norwegian Petro- prudent operation. This is achieved by
leum Directorate (NPD) 1) was estab- referencing national and International
lished by the Norwegian Parliament in Standards. The point is, however, to
make it absolutely clear that the par-
June1972, its first task was therefore to
ticulars of such recommended stand-
develop such a framework. There was
no comparative industry in Norway ards are not compulsory requirements.
at that time, although the country did They only describe solutions which are
have extensive maritime experience acceptable to the regulator.
and competence.
The first approach to regulating The importance of using
the industry was to prescribe specific
requirements with regard to health,
International Standards
safety and environmental issues. Most The petroleum industry in
of these were copied from more expe- Norway has cooperated actively since
rienced regulators’ rules and regula- 1994 to develop a common set of
tions, such as those of regulators in standards within specific areas of the
Canada and the United States. industry (the NORSOK standards).
Although this approach led These were further developed during
to some harmonization of rules and the late 1990s to become more inter-
regulations between different regula- nationally oriented, when the quality
tory systems, we soon realized that and importance of use of Internation-
our framework of rules and regulations al Standards became clearer.
20 ISO Focus April 2004
In particular, the major effort
to develop ISO standards under TC 67
seems to have been a success, with a
range of standards already in place and
others in the pipeline.
Because of the dependence
of our type of regulatory regime on
national and International Standards,
PSA has had a proactive input into
standards in order to rest assured
that the particulars of standards are
acceptable as seen from a regulator’s
point of view. Today, we employ some
20 personnel and use a total of 5-6
staff-years annually for standards-set-
ting or standards-revising activities.
Among several priorities related to
the work under ISO/TC 67, we have
1 As of 1 January 2004, the part of NPD
responsible for safety was established as a
separate entity : The Petroleum Safety Authority
Norway (PSA), an independent, government
regulatory body under the Ministry of Labour
and Government Administration. The mandate
of the PSA has been extended to cover
supervision of safety, emergency preparedness
and working environment on the petroleum
installations and associated pipeline systems
at Kårstø, Kollsnes, Sture, Tjeldbergodden,
Mongstad, Melkøya and Slagentangen, as
well as on any future integrated petroleum
installations.
About the author
Odd Bjerre
Finnestad is a
ea master and
as served both
n the Norwe-
ian merchant
marine and the
Royal Norwe-
ian Navy. He
as been
manager of
organizational development projects at the
Norwegian Ship Research Institute. He has
been with the Norwegian Petroleum Direc-
torate since 1980, latterly as an adviser to
the management on regulatory strategic
issues and international cooperation. He
currently holds the same position in the
newly formed Petroleum Safety Authority
Norway. Mr. Finnestad has also been sec-
onded to the International Labour Organi-
zation, Geneva, to conduct studies on regu-
latory regimes in the petroleum upstream
sector worldwide.
 I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Offshore platform safety

systems
Drilling deep
Copyright BP Plc.

did not address offshore developments.

Photo courtesy Eni/Agip

These standards were largely a legacy
from the former Soviet Union, and
were very prescriptive and, in many
cases, dated back to the 1970s and
1980s. National standards are often
more stringent than International
Standards mainly because of specific
Kazakhstan local and regional industrial condi-

takes the inter- tions.

Offshore production installations
– Basic surface process safety
systems (ISO 10418)
– Requirements and guidelines for
emergency response (ISO 15544)
– Guidelines on tools and techniques
for hazard identification and risk
assessment (ISO 17776)
– Heating, ventilation and
air-conditioning (ISO 15138)
Control and mitigation of fires and
explosions on offshore production
No formal standards approval
national route process is currently in place in
Kazakhstan and, as a result, each and
every project has to draw up a list of
standards to be applied. All stand-
ards applied need to be translated,
By Anatoly Baryshnikov,
expertized against the equivalent cor-
Eni/Agip, Milan, Italy, Head responding Kazakhstan standards, and
of Italian delegation to ISO/ registered with the Kazakhstan author-
TC 67, member of ISO/TC 67 ities. The regulatory approval process
Management and Executive of standards at federal, regional and
committees, and Rupert municipal levels can result in sig-
nificant delays up-front of any project.
Heygate-Browne, Agip KCO,
Just to give an idea of the challenge
The Hague, The Netherlands involved, the number of standards
included in the Kashagan project is of

installations
– Requirements and guidelines
(ISO 13702)
particular focus on the development of
requirements for design life extension
in SC 2 (pipelines) and SC 7 (load-
bearing structures), simply because a
large number of field installations are
approaching – or even already have
exceeded – their original design life.
In general, standards are impor-
tant to our system for the help they give
to support and complement our goal-
setting regulations. They are vehicles
for promoting good practice by provid-
ing authoritative definitions of what is
good practice. They provide the basis
for progressive improvement and rep-
resent a “ common currency ” for both
the industry and the PSA. However,
compliance with good practice as
defined by standards is not necessarily
sufficient to ensure that risks are as low
as reasonable practicable ; this needs to
be complemented by explicit assess-
ment of hazards, associated risks and
their control measures.
K
azakhstan is considered a
new frontier in the world oil
industry.
About 70 % of the country’s oil
reserves lie concentrated in three giant
oil fields: the Kashagan field (1,4-2,1
billion cubic metres), the Tenghiz field
(1,0-1,4 billion cubic metres), and the
Karachaganak field (0,3-0,5 billion
cubic metres).
The Kashagan offshore field,
located in the North Caspian Sea
and operated by ENI (Agip KCO), is
one of the largest and most exciting
hydrocarbon discoveries for many
decades in the world, and will make a
major contribution to the development
of Kazakhstan’s economy and future
prosperity.
While developing the Kashagan
field, it came to be realized that adop-
tion by the Kazakhstan authorities of
international oil field practice repre-
sented a critical factor for success,
and that this would have a significant
impact on both costs and schedules.
Preliminary discussions with the
Kazakhstan authorities identified that
a number of national standards existed
for onshore oil field development, but
the order of 1 200.
The benefits of
participation in standards
development
Although the Republic of
Kazakhstan was a member of a number
of international organizations such as
ISO, it had never actively participated
in any International Standards devel-
opment work for the oil and gas busi-
ness. As a consequence, considerable
time and effort needed to be spent by
Agip KCO and ISO/TC 67 to create
the right environment for the adop-
tion of International Standards and
de facto International Standards in
Kazakhstan. Numerous presentations,
workshops and meetings have been
held and attended with Kazakhstan
ministries, government agencies and
their national standards organization
KAZMEMST on the potential benefits
for them participating in this work.
As a consequence KAZ-
MEMST set up a Gosstandart techni-
cal committee (TC 33) as the mirror
committee of ISO/TC 67 to represent
ISO Focus April 2004 21
Main Focus
Kazakhstan interests within ISO/TC
67, to facilitate the process of adop-
tion of International Standards for the
oil and gas business, and to assist in
the development of new International
Standards through ISO/TC 67.
North Caspian Sea.
Photo courtesy Eni/Agip
Taking Kazakhstan
specific interests into
account
Following the formation of
the committee, Kazakhstan became
a ‘ Participating member in ISO/TC
67 at the end of 2002. It nominated
specialists to participate in the TC 67
new work item on Arctic Structures,
which will include the North Caspian.
Kazakhstan has also expressed a keen
interest in participating in the pipe-
line transportation and processing
equipment and systems subcommittee
work.
In mid-2003, responsibility for
developing oil and gas standards was
transferred to a newly formed institute,
the Kazakh Institute for Oil and Gas
(KING). The Kazakhstan government
transferred its interests in several other
oil and gas institutes to KING, which
now has a direct management reporting
responsibility to the national oil com-
pany. One committee, TC 49, forms
an inherent part of the KING institute,
and represents not only Kazakhstan
22 ISO Focus April 2004
government agencies but also interna-
tional and Kazakh oil companies and
Kazakh industry.
A formal process for the reg-
istration of standards was initiated
in mid-2002. Agreements were made
with several Kazakhstan Government-
approved institutes for translating,
‘ expertizing ’ and registering standards
for use by Agip KCO on their projects.
To date, a total of 76 standards have
been registered with the authorities
including some 53 ISO standards.
A further 59 standards, including 21
International Standards, are also in the
process of being registered.
Progress on registering
International and de facto standards
with the Kazakhstan authorities is
still proving a complex and time-con-
suming process. As a consequence, a
formal request has been made to the
Kazakhstan authorities to determine
how the process can be accelerated
About the authors
Anatoly
Baryshnikov is
n engineer in
he Quality
Assurance
department of
Eni E&P Divi-
ion in Milan,
taly. He joined
Eni in 1994 and
reviously
worked in the Russian oil industry. He is
primarily engaged in tubular and material
performance study with more than 20
years of experience in this field, including
about 70 published papers, 3 books and 15
patents. Anatoly Baryshnikov is a coordi-
nator of Eni participation (including Eni
divisions in Kazakhstan) in international
standardization for the petroleum and natu-
ral gas industries. He is Head of the Italian
delegation to ISO/TC 67, and a member of
ISO/TC 67 management and executive
committees.
to meet the current project schedule.
Discussions have also been initiated
with ISO/TC 67 and API on how these
organizations might assist in resolving
some of these issues.
Major operators of the Kazakh
Petroleum Association (KPA) have
initiated a programme for sharing
standards and regulatory information.
It is proposed that a common database
be set up, possibly through KING, and
stocked with Russian translations of
International and de facto standards
that have been registered with the
authorities. Individual operators will
then be able to access this informa-
tion with their contractors and sup-
pliers. The standards database will
facilitate the transfer of technology to
Kazakhstan and assist in developing
greater participation by Kazakh sup-
pliers and manufacturers.
Rupert
Heygate-
Browne is a
Chartered
Mechanical
Engineer with a
Masters Degree
rom the Univer-
ity of Manches-
er Institute of
Science and
Technology, and is currently working in
The Hague, The Netherlands. He is the
Standards Coordinator for Agip KCO the
operator for the Kashagan field in the
North Caspian. Mr. Heygate-Browne has
been working with standards development
in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry
both internally and externally (national and
international) for the last 10 years. Mr.
Heygate-Browne has some 30 years inter-
national oil and gas industry experience
working in Asia, Africa, USA and Europe.
I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

Rotating equipment
Drilling deep

China builds its

Storm turbines – Special purpose
applications (ISO 10437) new petroleum
Lubrication, shaft-sealing and industry
control-oil systems and auxiliaries
strategy round
Photo courtesy CPSC

– Part 1: General requirements

(ISO 10438-1) International
– Part 2: Special purpose oil
systems (ISO 10438-2) Standards
– Part 3: General purpose oil
systems (ISO 10438-3)
– Part 4: Self-acting gas seal A strategy in three
support systems (ISO 10438-4) phases
By Changyi (Terry) Qin, Senior
Flexible couplings for mechanical
power transmission
Engineer of Material Science, • For Phase 1 (by 2005), the primary
– Special purpose applications
Vice Chief Engineer of Tubular accomplishment is the transfer and
Goods Research Center of adoption of all existing interna-
(ISO 10441)
China National Petroleum tional and advanced foreign cor-
– General purpose applications
porate petroleum standards, with
(ISO 14691) Corporation, Head of Chinese the accomplished transfer of 100
Gears – High-speed special-purpose delegation to ISO/TC 67 ISO standards, adoption of 100
gear units (ISO 13691) advanced foreign corporate stand-

A
s soon as China became a mem-
ards, the integration of 100 Chinese
Centrifugal pumps for petroleum, ber of WTO, the Chinese Petro-
petroleum industrial standards, and
petrochemical and natural gas leum Standardization Technical
the development of 50 Chinese-
industries (ISO 13709) Committee (CPSC) developed a strat-
English bilingual standards. This
egy for international standardization
Shaft sealing systems for centrifugal will raise the transfer ratio of ISO
that would be applicable to the mar-
and rotary pumps (ISO 21049) standards to over 85 %, and the
keting of the Chinese petroleum indus-
adoption ratio of foreign advanced
Petroleum, chemical and gas service try, and the requirements of interna-
corporate standards to over 85 % as
industries tional development and involvement
well. In the meantime, the empha-
– Centrifugal compressors of the Chinese petroleum enterpris-
sis will be placed on trace-up
(ISO 10439) es entering world markets. The strat-
studies of important ISO standards
– Packaged, integrally geared centrif- egy is actively to adopt International
and foreign advanced corporate
ugal air compressors (ISO 10442) Standards and foreign-advanced cor-
standards, and try at a proper time
porate standards through deeper par-
Packaged reciprocating gas to use them as Chinese technical
ticipation in the activities of inter-
compressors (ISO 13631) standards.
national standardization and in the
Reciprocating compressors development of International Stand- • In Phase 2 (2005-2010), CPSC is
(ISO 13707) ards. It aims at higher world market- to broaden the scope of contacts
ing shares for China-made petroleum with the international and foreign
Rotary-type positive-displacement equipment and products, higher inter- petroleum industrial standards
compressors national competitive capabilities for organizations, and participate sub-
– Part 1: Process compressors (oil- the China petroleum construction and stantially in the development of
free) (ISO 10440-1) service teams, and greater influence international and foreign advanced
– Part 2: Packaged air compressors for the Chinese petroleum enterprises. standards by way of simultaneous
(oil-free) (ISO 10440-2) The execution of this strategy includes drafting, reviewing and publishing
Gas turbines – Procurement the following three phases. of those international and foreign
– Part 5: Applications for petroleum ISO Focus April 2004 23
and natural gas industries
(ISO 3977-5)
Main Focus
advanced standards that are the
most important to the Chinese
petroleum industry. At the same
time, it proposes to submit and
recommend those Chinese tech-
nical standards with unique supe-
riority to ISO or foreign standard
Photo courtesy CPSC
authorities for wide acceptance
outside China. More tasks in the
realm of ISO standards drafting are
to be shouldered.
• During Phase 3 (after 2010), the
Chinese petroleum industry is to
have realized the overall simul-
taneous drafting, reviewing and
publishing of all International
Standards parallel to China’s own
national and industrial standards,
and will become a major force in
developing ISO standards related
to the petroleum industry, facili-
tating the development of interna-
tional petroleum standardization
together with all other ISO member
countries. The technical standards
of the Chinese petroleum industry
should enter the world market, and
become one category of standards
accepted by the international petro-
leum industries.
Implementation
of the strategy
To implement the international
standardization strategy of the Chinese
petroleum industry and promote the
links of the Chinese petroleum indus-
trial standards with ISO and advanced
foreign corporate standards, CPSC
has developed and implemented three
plans during the “ Tenth Five-Year-
Period ” (2001-2005). They are :
• The Plan to transfer ISO and IEC
standards ;
• the Plan to adopt advanced foreign
corporate standards as Chinese
industrial standards ; and
• the Plan to develop Chinese-
English bilingual standards.
To date, the main achievements
are already through. One is the ISO
and IEC standards transfer plan for
94 standards, 63 of which are now
24 ISO Focus April 2004
“ The strategy aims at
higher world marketing
shares and greater
influence for Chinese
petroleum enterprises.”
transferred or are in progress, repre-
senting 65 % of the planned numbers.
The second is the plan to adopt 119
standards as Chinese industrial stand-
ards, 78 of which are adopted or are
under adoption, representing 65,5 %
of the planned numbers. The third is
the plan for 47 Chinese-English bilin-
gual standards, 8 of which are already
developed, 10 in progress, another
12 listed in the annual plan of 2004,
amounting to 30 standards in all and
representing 64 % of the initial plan.
The execution of these plans greatly
strengthens the links of the Chinese
petroleum standardization with inter-
national standardization.
CPSC cooperates with the
national petroleum drilling and pro-
duction equipment and tools technical
standardization committee, and the
natural gas technical standardiza-
tion committee, jointly attending the
committees of ISO/TC 28, Petroleum
products and lubricants, subcom-
mittee SC 2, Dynamic petroleum
measurement, ISO/TC 67, Materials,
equipment, and offshore structures
for the petroleum, petrochemical, and
natural gas industries, ISO/TC 193,
Natural gas, OIML (Organisation
internationale de métrologie légale)
/TC 8, Shipping, and API standardiza-
tion activities. Some ISO standards are
developed in China.
After China became a member
of WTO, CPSC planned a
development strategy for
international standardization
to be applicable to the market-
ing of the Chinese petroleum
industry, aiming at a higher
world market share for China-
made petroleum equipment
and products, higher interna-
tional competitive capabilities
of China petroleum construction
and service teams.
CPSC will make efforts to
organize the Chinese petroleum indus-
trial enterprises to join in the develop-
ment of ISO standards more actively,
taking a more proactive attitude and
undertaking more initiatives, and
expects to strengthen the exchanges
with the ISO petroleum-related com-
mittees, oil companies, and advanced
foreign corporate standards organiza-
tions like API, CEN, OGP, and DNV.
Joint mutual cooperation is greatly val-
ued to establish the right relations for
further development of the petroleum
industrial technical standards around
the globe.
About the author
Changyi (Terry)
Qin is Senior
Engineer of
material science,
Vice Chief Engi-
eer of Tubular
Goods Research
Center of China
National Petrole-
m Corporation,
General Secre-
tary of Tubular Goods Standardization
Subcommittee of CPSC, and head of the
Chinese delegation to ISO/TC 67 and API
standardization committees. He is a lead
auditor and training coach for national pro-
duction licenses for welded line pipes in
China, with 15 years experience in stand-
ardization, technology supervision of tubu-
lar goods and petroleum materials.
 Shell International Limited
I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Static equipment
Copyright BP Plc.
Design and installation of piping
systems on offshore production
platforms (ISO 13703)
Glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) piping
– Part 1 : Vocabulary, symbols, appli-
cations and materials
(ISO 14692-1)
– Part 2 : Qualification and manufac-
ture (ISO 14692-2)
– Part 3: System design (ISO 14692-3)
– Part 4 : Fabrication, installation
and operation (ISO 14692-4)
Piping (ISO 15649)
Calculation of heater-tube thickness
in petroleum refineries (ISO 13704)
Fired heaters for general refinery
service (ISO 13705)
Air-cooled heat exchanges
(ISO 13706)
Plate heat exchangers (ISO 15547)
Shell-and-tube heat exchangers
(ISO 16812)
Bolted bonnet steel gate valves for
petroleum and natural gas industries
(ISO 10434)
Steel gate, globe and check valves
for sizes DN 100 and smaller, for
petroleum and natural gas industries
(ISO 15761)
Demands
continue to
change
downstream
By Dr. W. James Bover, Chair,
ISO/TC 28, Petroleum products
and lubricants
S
ince its formation in 1947 and
first plenary meeting in 1952,
ISO/TC 28 on petroleum prod-
ucts and lubricants has provided a val-
ued service to many sectors of a rath-
er complex petroleum industry. The
committee is active in all major seg-
ments of this industry serving both
the upstream (of the refinery) and the
downstream (refinery and below) for
all major petroleum, gas and lubricant
products. Our first standard was pub-
lished in 1959, and, to date, over 200
standards have been issued and are
being maintained.
The main work of TC 28 and
two of its subcommittees (1 and 4)
and the 15 working groups reporting
to them is the development of standard
test methods, specifications and classi-
fications primarily for the downstream
petroleum industry. The portfolio of
106 standard test methods covers a
wide range of products including :
• general petroleum products and
lubricants
• lubricants for air, gas and refriger-
ating compressors
• gear lubricants
• turbine lubricants
• two-stroke gasoline engine oils
• hydraulic fluids (joint with ISO/TC
131, Fluid power systems)
• heat transfer fluids
Drilling deep
• fire-resistant fluids
• metal working fluids
• greases
• marine fuels
• gas turbine fuels
• liquefied petroleum gases.
Upstream activities
TC 28 subcommittees SC 2,
SC 3, SC 5 and SC 6 are responsible
for activities primarily related to the
upstream through their total of 15 work-
ing groups. AFNOR (France), ANSI
(USA), BSI (United Kingdom), JISC
(Japan) and SPRING SG (Singapore)
provide the convenors of these work-
ing groups. The broad range of topics
covered by these groups includes :
• calculation of petroleum quantities
in dynamic measurement
• dynamic-direct and static mass
measurements
• volumetric measurement by turbine
and displacement meter systems
• automatic direct measurement of
temperatures and level in storage
tanks
• cargo quality assessment
• pipe provers
• tank calibration
• compressibility of liquefied petro-
leum gases
• sampling of petroleum products
• gauging instrumentation
• bunkering protocols
• accounting procedures.
TC 28 and SC 4 have three
working groups with active liaisons
with other technical committees.
These include joint working groups
with ISO/TC 35, Paints and varnish-
es, for flash point methods, with ISO/
TC 22/SC 7, Road vehicles – Fuel
injection equipment and filters for
use on road vehicles, for diesel fuel
lubricity, and with ISO/TC 131, Fluid
power systems, for classification and
specification of hydraulic fluids. Sub-
ISO Focus April 2004 25
Main Focus
committees SC 2, SC 3, SC 5 and SC
6 have an active liaison and working
relationship with the American Petro-
leum Institute and its Committee on
Petroleum Measurement. In fact,
on behalf of the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI), API
assumed the responsibility for the
secretariat of the main TC 28 Com-
mittee as well as both subcommittees
SC 2 and SC 6 in 1995. (See p. 8 for
a discussion of these liaison activities
with the Committee on Petroleum
Measurement).
Making good use
of what existed
Since its inception, ISO/TC
28 has grappled with two important
issues : what constitutes an interna-
tional standard, and what is the best
way to develop such standards. These
issues are still being addressed not only
by ISO/TC 28 today, but by many of
our governments as well. Other orga-
nizations such as ASTM International
and the Energy Institute (formerly the
Institute of Petroleum [IP] based in the
United Kingdom) were firmly estab-
lished in the industry. These organi-
About the author
Jim Bover is
hairman of
SO/TC 28,
Petroleum
roducts and
ubricants, and is
lso chairman of
ASTM Interna-
onal Commit-
ee D02 on
etroleum Prod-
ucts and Lubricants. He has been active in
standards development activities in these
organizations since 1983. Jim has been a
leader in ASTM’s proficiency test pro-
gramme development for the petroleum
industry since its inception in 1988. He
received his Ph.D. in Analytical chemistry
from Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY,
USA, in 1974 and joined ExxonMobil in
1978. Currently, he is section head for
Data Integrity and Quality Assurance for
ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc.
26 ISO Focus April 2004
zations had been developing standard
test methods and specifications for
petroleum products and lubricants for
nearly 30 years before TC 28 was even
formed. It was therefore natural for
ASTM and IP standards (and some
from other national standards develop-
ing organizations like DIN [Germany]
and AFNOR [France]) to be used as
the basis for many of the ISO stan-
dards published by ISO/TC 28. There
were numerous instances when the
TC 28 standards development process
involved little more than revising the
text formatting to ensure that it is in
line with ISO requirements.
Balancing the needs
of the different member
groups
In recent years, we find our-
selves again questioning the value
added from editorially reformatting
existing, internationally accepted
(ASTM and IP) standards in order to
work them through the ISO process.
Also, the petroleum, gas and lubri-
cant industries are not static. Quite
the contrary, the demands on our
standards continue to change, which
in turn means that the standards must
be continuously maintained. With
reduced resources available to any of
the standards developing organizations
serving this industry, keeping the ISO
standards technically aligned with
their base methods has proved to be
problematical. Furthermore, balanc-
ing the needs of the different member
groups in TC 28 has been challeng-
ing. In addition to its close working
relationships with ASTM, ISO/TC 28
has enjoyed a long-standing and pro-
ductive relationship with its European
counterpart, CEN/TC 19, which began
its work in 1962. Some two-thirds of
the CEN/TC 19 work programme con-
sists of ISO EN standards developed
under the Vienna Agreement.
The concerns and issues raised
in discussions by the various standards
developing organizations came to a
culmination in 2002. These discussions
led to an effort to develop a memoran-
dum of understanding between ISO/
TC 28, CEN/TC 19 and ASTM D02.
One of the leading purposes was to
ensure a reduction (and hopefully the
elimination) of the duplicated efforts
among these organizations. An on-
going three-organization Task Force is
established to further define the memo-
randum of understanding and to study
ways of implementing its principles.
“The petroleum, gas
and lubricant industries
are not static.”
Over the past 50 years, ISO/TC
28 has come a long way in serving
the needs of the petroleum industry,
government agencies and the users of
its standards throughout the world. It
is obvious that we are in a transition
period as we investigate better ways of
conducting our work. We can certainly
expect that ISO/TC 28 and its sub-
committees will evolve with its MoU
partners, and in due course, implement
mechanisms for more efficient coop-
erative efforts.
Information on ISO/TC 28
activities or standards under devel-
opment is available from the TC
28 Secretariat. Contact Mrs. Paula
Watkins, watkinsp@api.org, at API,
1220 L St., N. W., Washington, D.C.
20005.

Shell International Limited
I S O S TA N DA R D S F O R
THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
Offshore structures
Copyright BP Plc.
General requirements for offshore
structures (ISO 19900)
Specific requirements for offshore
structures
– Part 4: Geotechnical and founda-
tion design considerations
(ISO 19901-4)
– Part 5: Weight control during engi-
neering and construction
(ISO 19901-5)
Offshore structures – Part 2: Fixed
steel structures (ISO 13819-2)
Mooring of mobile offshore drilling
units (MODUs) – Design and analy-
sis (Technical Report)
(ISO/TR 13637)
Managing
resource
conservation in
the USA
Shell International Limited
By Mr. Joseph
R. Levine, Senior
Engineer, US
Department of the
Interior, Minerals
Management Service
T
he Minerals Manage-
ment Service (MMS)
is a bureau in the United States
Department of the Interior responsible
for managing the nation’s oil, natural
gas, and other mineral resources on
the outer continental shelf (OCS).
MMS ensures that these resources are
explored for, developed and produced
in a safe and environmentally sound
manner and that development of these
finite and non-renewable resources are
conducted according to the principles
of resource conservation.
In order to achieve agency
goals, MMS has developed a com-
prehensive regulatory programme
which can best be characterized as a
“ hybrid ” system relying upon three
distinct components : a set of unique
government prescriptive regulations, a
series of performance-based goals, and
reliance upon a suite of technical oil
and gas standards. This article focuses
on how technical standards function as
an integral part of MMS’s regulatory
programme in helping achieve agency
goals.
Drilling deep
Our critical input into ISO
The use of standards as part of
MMS’s programme is not a new phe-
nomenon. Recognition of the benefits
of using industry “ best practices ”
as defined in technical standards and
the subsequent incorporation of these
documents into operating regulations
has been part of the agency’s regula-
tory philosophy since its creation in
1982. Standards first appeared in our
codified regulations in April, 1988
after previously being referenced in
our OCS Orders. Since that time,
MMS has participated in standardiza-
tion work by providing agency subject
matter experts the ability to participate
on select standards developing orga-
nizations committees and working
groups.
MMS participation on the stan-
dards groups during the development
process allows the agency to provide
critical input while standards are being
formulated, rather than after the docu-
ment has been completed. The result-
ing dialogue enhances the chances of
having agency concerns addressed in
the standard. When possible, differ-
ences between agency regulations and
standards requirements are resolved
during the development stage, result-
ing in a document with an additional
degree of consensus. It is important to
note that agreement between a regula-
tion and a standard is not the over-rid-
ing goal in authoring a standard, nor
does it happen on every occasion.
Presently, MMS has 86 separate
industry standards incorporated into its
programme issued by seven standards
ISO Focus April 2004 27
Main Focus
developing organi-
zations. These stan-
dards can be divid-
ed into two broad
subcategories based
upon subject mat-
ter content. Thir-
ty-seven standards
address equipment
design and oper-
ational concerns,
while 49 concern themselves with
hydrocarbon measurement. All 86
standards, regardless of scope, are
used by the bureau to enhance safety,
environmental protection, and assure
the orderly development of hydrocar-
bon resources.
“ The standards developed
by ISO/TC 67 will impact
the offshore oil and gas
industry for years
to come.”
Consistent with the trend toward
international commerce, today’s off-
shore oil and gas industry has become
global in scope. MMS thus finds itself
regulating OCS activities of an interna-
tional industry. If done correctly, one
set of international standards provid-
ing for regional differences can lower
business costs, make resources more
economic to produce, and provide for
safe and environmentally sound opera-
tions. Based upon this assessment,
and the potential impact international
standards could have on our domestic
programme, MMS made the decision
to become involved in select interna-
tional standards work projects.
In August 1998, MMS began
participating in the activities of ISO/
TC 67, Materials, equipment and off-
shore structures for petroleum, petro-
chemical and natural gas industries.
We took this active posture because
we believed to do otherwise risked
abdicating our responsibility to work
with the international community in
this critical endeavour. We face sig-
nificant risks if global standards are
neither technically sound nor benefi-
cial to US interests. Since beginning
28 ISO Focus April 2004
We see adoption of this interna-
tional standard as an important step in
the process of harmonizing the techni-
cal requirements of the offshore oil
Shell International Limited
and gas industry on a global basis and
ensuring that safety and environmental
protection are maintained.
We believe that many benefits
can be realized from open communi-
cation and data sharing between regu-
lators, industry, and standards develop-
our participation, our experts have ing organizations. In this way, we can
participated in varying degrees on support each other’s efforts to identify
the activities of four subcommittees the best and most effective operating
dealing with pipeline transportation practices for the offshore oil and gas
systems ; drilling and completion industry.
fluids and well cements; drilling and
production equipment ; and offshore
structures. The standards developed Addressing global
by ISO/TC 67 will impact the offshore concerns in our
oil and gas industry for years to come programmes
and involvement in the organization
At present, MMS is in the
should prove valuable for the MMS
process of developing new pipeline
and the regulated community.
regulations for OCS oil and gas opera-
tions. As part of this work, we are
considering including the international
Protecting offshore
standard, Pipeline Valves, API Spec
personnel 6D, Twenty-second Edition, January,
International standards are 2002, ISO 14313:1999, Petroleum
valuable in eliminating the barriers and Natural Gas Industries – Pipeline
that impede safe and environmen-
tally sound offshore operations. Out
of the 86 private sector standards
incorporated into our regulations, one About the author
of these standards, Specification for
Subsurface Safety Valve Equipment, Joseph R.
API Specification 14A, Tenth Edition, Levine, Senior
Engineer with
November 2000, ISO 10432:1999,
he US Depart-
Petroleum and natural gas industries ment of Interior,
– Downhole equipment – Subsurface Minerals Man-
safety valve equipment, is an interna- gement Service
tional standard. This standard speci- MMS), is based
fies the minimum acceptable design n Herndon, Vir-
requirements for subsurface safety inia, USA. His
valve equipment and was incorporated major responsi-
into our regulations in December, bilities include overseeing the development
2000. This equipment will shut off and implementation of MMS’s standardi-
the flow of hydrocarbons in the event zation programme, offshore training
programme, and the analysis of outer
of an emergency and is considered
continental shelf (OCS) incident and safety
the last line of defense in securing a data. He has onshore oilfield experience
well and/or preventing pollution to the in drilling operations and has worked with
environment. This piece of equipment the MMS in its Alaska, Pacific, and Gulf
has proved invaluable, time after time, of Mexico Regional offices.
in providing for protection of offshore
personnel and environmentally sensi-
tive resources.

Copyright BP Plc.
Transportation Systems – Pipeline
Valves, into our regulations. If this
standard is ultimately included in our
operating regulations in place of the
currently incorporated Specification
for Pipeline Valves (Gate, plug, ball
and check valves), API Spec 6D,
Twenty-first Edition, March, 1994, it
would be the second true international
technical standard incorporated into
our programme. A key concern in
arriving at this decision is to deter-
mine if the international standard (API
6D/ISO 14313) provides an equivalent
degree of protection to personnel
and the environment as the currently
incorporated domestic standard (API
6D). In this particular case, the major
difference between the two standards
appears to be how valve leakage rates
are addressed.
“ We provide critical input
while standards are being
formulated.”
From a historical perspective,
MMS’s decision to participate in ISO/
TC 67 is a significant step in the evo-
lution of our regulatory programme.
Participation in this process confirms
MMS’s understanding that the indus-
try we regulate is global in nature and
that the technical challenges facing
this industry have global implications
that require universal solutions. When
viewed individually, the examples
cited above look like nothing more
then the incorporation of just another
standard into the suite of dozens of
standards already included in our
programme. Viewed collectively, these
two examples show an emerging pat-
tern, acknowledging that ISO or other
standards addressing global concerns
can have an important role in our regu-
latory programme if such standards
address agency goals of safety, envi-
ronmental protection, and conservation
of natural resources.
The key role
of training
cross-board
players
By Gerhard Froelich, WEG
Wirtschaftsverband Erdoel-
und Erdgasgewinnung e.V.,
Germany
T
he Petroleum and Natural Gas
Industries (P&NGI), operating
worldwide, have long recog-
nized the great value of the ISO stand-
ardization of its facilities, equipment
and processes. By the end of 2003, 115
International Standards in total had
been developed within subcommittees
and working groups of ISO/TC 67 and
published by the experts of the P&NGI
and associated manufacturers. In total,
180 standards will have been published
by the end of the present planning
period (up to the end of 2009).
As key success factors, differ-
ent training measures help :
• To develop ISO standards success-
fully ;
• To introduce ISO standards into
countries that have not used them
in the past ; and finally
• To apply the published standards
by the P&NGI companies con-
cerned.
Drilling deep
This article describes the train-
ing measures already carried out by the
P&NGI and by ISO, as well as those
necessary to the companies for a suc-
cessful implementation of standards.
Training the industry
Many companies of the P&NGI
work as global, cross-border players.
They make use of the advantages of
global trading ; to do so optimally,
P&NGI needs to use uniform standards
trans-nationally. With this, and with
the general validation of International
Standards within a country, equipment
and methods can be employed without
using country-specific admission pro-
cedures. Even local P&NGI, working
exclusively in their native countries,
can only profit from the application of
standards that are valid worldwide.
The benefit comes from the
fact that the local companies can
participate directly in global trade,
i.e. they can buy P&NGI products
worldwide, which have been produced
in accordance with uniform rules laid
out in International Standards.
An important precondition
is, however, that the authorities of
a country assure themselves of the
conformance of the International
Standards with the regulations valid
in their respective countries to ensure
safe operation of the P&NGI facilities
and use of methods.
A first aim of the training given
at standards workshops therefore
is to inform the local P&NGI, the
ISO Focus April 2004 29
Main Focus
manufacturers, and the authorities of
the objectives and contents of sector-
specific international standardization.
This includes examining all open
possibilities for the adjustment of the
local standards used up to then to the
International Standards of ISO/TC 67.
In pursuit of this goal, the stand-
ards committee of OGP (International
Association of Oil and Gas Producers)
has since 2002 held two workshops in
which many local companies of the
P&NGI, local standardization bod-
ies as well as the national authorities
took part (in Brazil – Rio, December
2002 and in the Russian Federation
– Moscow, November 2003).
Another workshop is being held
in China (Beijing) in April 2004.
Training the developers
The writing of standards is pri-
marily carried out by experts who have
optimal knowledge of the equipment
and processes to be standardized.
For the writing itself, certain
rules defined in the ISO Directives
have to be taken into account.
The correct application of the
rules in the course of the preparation
of a standard results in a draft that can
easily be taken and developed into a
definitive version in the final process-
ing by the ISO staff. For this, the
ISO template has proved enormously
helpful, as well as all additional forms
prepared by ISO, which can be down-
loaded from the ISO Web site.
To achieve good results right
from the preparation phase of stand-
ards, it is extremely useful to train
one or two members of a working
group in the correct application the
ISO Directives and use of the ISO
template. So far, the ISO Central
Secretariat has carried out three train-
ing courses satisfying the needs of
ISO/TC 67, in which project leaders
as well as members of editing groups
took part. As a result, in the working
groups concerned, this training has
led to draft standards, which could
be brought to the publication stage by
the ISO/CS without involving a great
amount of additional processing.
30 ISO Focus April 2004
Other similar courses will be held
according to need.
Training the engineers
After the publication of
International Standards, training needs
of a quite different nature arise: the
standards need to be transferred to the
“ real-life ” arena of companies, their
processes implemented, and their engi-
neers made aware of their content.
For this, engineers need to be
aided in the process of comparison
between the formerly used standards
and the newly presented International
Standards. Since any direct replace-
ment is seldom possible, speed of
application the new ones depends on
the advice of senior experts, those
who carry out the switch-over between
standards on the basis of real applica-
tion cases or projects together with the
engineers concerned.
Furthermore, company-specific
specifications applied in addition to
the standards previously being used
often need to be revised and adapted to
the new standards.
Last but not least, part of such
an internal training should include the
company’s purchasing department and
be devoted to revising existing pur-
chase documents.
In parallel with the in-house
training of the engineers, discussions
have to be held with the authorities.
The aim of these contacts is to evalu-
ate needs for adapting regulations to
the new standards.
If there is consensus between
the P&NGI companies in a country,
this phase of in-house training and
authority-related contacts should be
supported centrally by experts from
the national association of the P&NGI
(if such exists) to ensure uniformity.
Expenses and benefits
Putting the training measures
described above into action involves
expenditure, which begins with the send-
ing of employees to the external courses
of OGP and ISO. Although the amounts
involved are small, direct participation
in standardization projects to enable a
company to bring influence to bear on
the content of standards from the outset
is considerably more expensive.
Even if an employee appointed
for this activity undertakes the work on
standards exclusively besides his nor-
mal job, such involvement can easily
cost several tens of thousands of USD
per year.
Given the sum of these efforts,
one might ask what are the benefits to
be drawn ?
Benefits accruing from the
active training are obvious : the proc-
esses of the developing and the for-
mal processing of the standards are
considerably accelerated by the two
aforementioned training measures. As
a consequence, companies can adopt
the new standards faster, and thus the
precondition for an increase in such
companies’ efficiency is fulfilled.
The primary benefit arises from
the last training phase when, by apply-
ing common action, the internal organ-
ization of the company “ takes aboard ”
the new standard as its own, allowing
an increase in efficient and safe opera-
tion adapted to the set of International
Standards of the P&NGI.
About the author
Gerhard
Froelich joined
BEB Erdoel-
nd Erdgas
GmbH, Hanover,
s head of main-
enance on elec-
rical facilities of
ipeline systems
n 1977. He
ecame Head of
maintenance on oil production facilities
there, then took over the leadership of Inte-
grated Planning within Operations. In
2002, he ran the International Standardiza-
tion and Industries Committee Activities at
ExxonMobil Production Germany (EMPG)
in Hanover. Since October 2003, he has
been Consultant on International Standard-
ization working with WEG Wirtschaftsver-
band Erdoel- und Erdgasgewinnung e.V.,
Hanover (WEG is the Association of the
German Oil and Gas Producers).
Developments and Initiatives
Metadata : a worldwide library effort
By Patricia Harris,
Executive Director, NISO,
and Stuart L. Weibel,
Senior Research Scientist,
OCLC Research
Metadata Resources
T
he World Summit on the
Information Society held in
Geneva in December, 2003,
spotlighted the urgency of building and
supporting an information and com-
munications infrastructure to reach the
goal of: open access and equal access
to information. The vision inspiring the
11 000 delegates to the Summit called
for an Information Society “ where
everyone can create, access, utilize
and share information and knowledge,
enabling individuals, communities and
peoples to achieve their full potential.”
Information is power !
Information systems are built on
standards. One of ISO’s newest stand-
ards – ISO 15836, the Dublin Core
Metadata Element Set – is already
serving as the glue for an information
infrastructure that empowers govern-
ment, business, and the individual.
ISO 15836 or “ The Dublin
Core ” was advanced using the Fast
Track Process through ISO Technical
Committee 46, Information and docu-
mentation, Subcommittee 4 Technical
Dublin Core website :
http://dublincore.org
Dublin Core documents are
translated into twenty-three
languages. A list of these
translations is at :
http://dublincore.org/
resources/translations/
Metadata Made Simpler and
Metadata Demystified :
A Guide for Publishers are
introductions to the topic
available for free-download
from the NISO website :
http://www.niso.org/
standards/std_
resources.html#tr
To reach the authors :
e-mail pharris@niso.org and
weibel@oclc.org.
Interoperability and approved in
October 2003. The standard is based
on ANSI/NISO Z39.85-2001, origi-
nally developed in the USA. It defines
a basic set of data elements that will
help resource discovery, that is, finding
information on the Web.
Metadata is often called “ infor-
mation about information,” or “ data
about data.” The information captured
on the traditional library catalogue
card (title, author, etc.) is one example
of metadata. Today, metadata describ-
ing all kinds of information products
is increasingly important to any search
for information no matter if that search
is for pleasure, learning or business.
By capturing the essence of an infor-
mation item in a metadata description
in a standard way, a publishing house
can share the content in its information
products through digital media such as
the Web, for example. Using standard-
ized metadata benefits all information
users as it makes information easier to
search, to find, and to share.
ISO Focus April 2004 31
Developments and Initiatives
The Core of the strength
The strength of the Dublin Core
standard, ISO 15836, is its very basic
approach. The standard simply defines
fifteen optional metadata elements for
describing cross-genre, cross-disci-
plinary information resources. These
elements are : title, creator, subject,
description, publisher, contributor,
date, type, format, identifier, sourc-
es, language, relation, coverage, and
rights.
“ Information systems are
built on standards.”
Developed and tested in the
bibliographic community in the mid-
1990s, the utility of the Dublin Core
Metadata Set was quickly recog-
nized internationally. It has now been
translated into 25 different languages
and seven national governments have
adopted the Dublin Core element set as
the national metadata standard for gov-
ernment resources. Dublin Core meta-
data is the basis for description used
by corporations and nongovernmental
agencies including the World Health
Organization, the United Nations
Environmental Program, the Euro-
pean Environmental agency, and the
Food and Agriculture Organization.
In addition, it has completed various
stages of standardization in the Inter-
net Engineering Task Force, through
European agreements, and nationally
in Norway, Denmark, Japan, Australia,
and the USA. The Dublin Core stand-
ard has also been incorporated into
other standards, including the PRISM
metadata standard (PRISM is an XML
metadata vocabulary for magazine and
journal content), the Electronic Thesis
and Dissertation metadata standard,
and the Standards Metadata Element
Set (even standards need metadata !)
The ISO Dublin Core standard
will be maintained by the Dublin Core
Metadata Initiative (DCMI), which
is supported by the OCLC (Online
Computer Library Center), the leading
global library cooperative. Founded
in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, mem-
bership, computer library service
32 ISO Focus April 2004
and research organization dedicated
to furthering access to the world’s
information and reducing information
costs headquartered in Dublin, Ohio,
USA. The mission of DCMI is to
make it easier to find resources using
the Internet through the development
of international, interoperable meta-
data standards and frameworks. DCMI
participants reflect a diversity of
backgrounds drawing on expertise in
archives and museum information sys-
tems, automation services, knowledge
management technology, content
management systems, government
document repositories, publishing and
syndication services, libraries, and
educational institutions and distance
learning. The DCMI (Dublin Core
Metadata Initiative) will serve as the
maintenance agency for ISO 15836.
Mr. Stuart Weibel is the Director of the
maintenance agency and will be assis-
ted by an Advisory Board. In this role,
the DCMI is committed to an open
consensus-building process.
About the authors
Stuart L.
Weibel, Ph.D., is
enior Research
cientist in the
Office of
Research of
OCLC, Inc., a
worldwide
brary coopera-
ve. His research
nterests include
automated cataloging, automated docu-
ment structure analysis, electronic pub-
lishing, persistent identifiers, and metada-
ta. Stuart Weibel is a founding member of
the International World Wide Web
Conference Committee and has served on
programme and organizational committees
for the Internet Society, the European
Conference on Digital Libraries, the Joint
Conference on Digital Libraries, and the
International Conference on Asian Digital
Libraries.
Anyone can join the mailing
lists that support DCMI working
groups and anyone can attend the
Dublin Core conferences. Through
its Affiliate Programme, DCMI provi-
des an avenue to strengthen the links
among regional communities of practi-
ce and the global initiative, and offers a
means for distributing the governance
and support for the initiative to reflect
its truly international, cross-discipli-
nary constituents.
As the information universe
expands, being able to find, to link
to, to reuse, and to share information
resources becomes more complex.
Through standards such as ISO 15836
leaders in standards development aim
to reduce this complexity and create
new opportunities for access.
Patricia Harris
is the Executive
Director of the
National
Information
Standards
Organization
(www.niso.org)
a nongovern-
mental, nonprofit
organization
based in the USA. that develops and pro-
motes technical standards used by publish-
ers, information services, and libraries.
Under her leadership the organization’s
membership has doubled, the organiza-
tion’s scope has expanded to embrace dig-
ital content, its budget has grown four-
fold, and NISO has launched a print and
electronic publications programme.
Patricia Harris is the secretary of the
ISO’s Technical Committee 46
Subcommittee SC 4, Technical
Interoperability.
The next century
for gas cylinder periodic inspection
and testing
By John W. Felbaum, Convenor
ISO/TC 58, Gas cylinders, SC
4, Operational requirements
for cylinders, WG 5, Periodic
inspection by ultrasonic exami-
nation
A
pproximately four years ago
ISO/TC 58/SC 4, Operational
requirements for gas cylinders
initiated its review process for long
existing standards that are referenced
at periodic inspections and testing of
gas containers. Although all of the
requalification standards were being
reviewed, two (specifically ISO 6406,
Periodic inspection and testing of
seamless steel gas cylinders and ISO
10461, Periodic inspection and test-
ing of seamless aluminum alloy gas
cylinders) were selected as spearhead
documents, since many of the changes
could be considered for incorporation
into other standards. Our focus was
further refined to work on ISO 6406,
Periodic inspection and testing of
seamless steel gas cylinders so that
changes could be slightly modified
for inclusion into the Aluminum
Alloy Gas Cylinder PI & T (Periodic
Inspection and Testing).
PI & T standards for steel
and aluminum gas containers require
a step that has been used success-
fully for nearly one hundred years: the
hydraulic pressure test. As one might
suspect, introducing new technology
into a standard that has demonstrated
such long-term success would prove to
be a challenge.
Incorporating an interval. This interval can be anywhere
from three to ten years, depending
alternative to hydraulic
on the cylinder’s design specification
pressure tests
and gas service. During this test the
The task at hand was to incor- cylinder must be emptied of its con-
porate Ultrasonic Examination (UE) as tents, de-valved, visually examined
an alternative to the hydraulic pressure on the internal and external surfaces,
test that has been used successfully for filled with water, re-valved and pres-
so many years. surized to test pressure. After suc-
The basic principle behind the cessfully passing the pressure test the
hydraulic pressure test is to expose cylinder must be de-valved, drained of
the gas cylinder to stresses well above water, dried and re-valved before it is
normal operating loads, thus confirm- returned to service. Based on the large
ing that the cylinder is suitable for safe number of steps necessary to complete
use during the next requalification the hydraulic pressure test and the risk
The supply of
industrial gases
is vital to many
industrial processes
where health and
safety are at stake.
It is therefore
crucial that all
cylinders
be periodically
inspected and
tested.
ISO Focus April 2004 33
Developments and Initiatives
to polluting the environment while
removing the cylinder’s contents or
damaging the cylinder’s threads, an
alternative test was desired.
“ Ultrasonic Examination
is considered by many
experts to be a superior
requalification technique.”
Fortunately, Ultrasonic Tech-
nology has progressively improved
since its introduction to the steel indus-
try in the early 1960’s, thereby becom-
ing a viable candidate for replacing
the hydraulic pressure test. The basic
principle behind this examination
method is the use of a sound-emitting
source (a transducer) that is connected
to the material to be tested with a gel
or water (couplant) that allows the
sound to be sent from the transducer,
into the material, and then back to the
transducer. Differences in the amount
of sound returned to the transducer, or
the time taken for the sound to return,
allow the operator to measure the
material’s thickness and determine if
flaws are present in the material. Since
this method is capable of detecting
flaws within the material and on the
material’s surfaces (both ID and OD),
Ultrasonic Examination could replace
the internal visual inspection. Since
UE also measures the gas container’s
wall thickness it offers a suitable
replacement for the stress-inducing
hydraulic pressure test. Determina-
tion of both container thickness and
flaw detection can be accomplished
without removing the gas cylinder’s
contents or the valve, thus making
Ultrasonic Examination environmen-
tally friendly and providing less wear
and tear on the gas cylinder’s threads.
Ultrasonic Examination can also detect
small sub-critical cracks. Since a gas
cylinder with this type of imperfection
would easily pass a hydraulic pressure
test, Ultrasonic Examination is consid-
ered by many experts to be a superior
requalification technique. UE is also
considered the most qualitative test
when compared to proof or volumetric
hydraulic pressure tests.
34 ISO Focus April 2004
Reaching consensus
on an Ultrasonic
Examination method
Several member countries have
been using Ultrasonic Examination as
a substitute for the hydraulic pressure
test for many years, in some countries
under an exemption from the National
Authority, while in Europe the relevant
PI & T EN standards already allow a
UE test. Thus the first draft of the work-
ing document contained very prescrip-
tive requirements. The subcommittee’s
mission was to reach consensus on the
words selected to describe a perfor-
mance-based Ultrasonic Examination
method. If successful, the new
Ultrasonic Examination alternative
would be consistently reliable without
restricting further advancements in
Ultrasonic Examination technology.
SC4 of TC 58 started these revisions,
but it was soon apparent that a working
group would be required to handle the
details of the Ultrasonic Examination
section of the requalification stan-
dards. WG 5 was formed to handle the
specific comments on the section of
these standards.
About the author
John W.
Felbaum is the
Vice President
f Technology
or FIBA
Technologies,
nc. John has
ver 25 years of
xperience in the
ompressed gas
ndustry.
Throughout his career, John has been a
proactive participant on many standards
writing committees and is currently
Compressed Gas Association’s Head of
Delegation to the United Nations Sub-
Committee of Experts on the Transport of
Dangerous Goods (UN-COETDG) and
past member to the US Department of
Transportation delegation at (UN-
COETDG). He currently is the convenor
of TC 58/SC 4/WG 5, Periodic Inspection
of Cylinders by Ultrasonic Examination.
The timing of this work was
extremely fortuitous because the
United Nation’s Sub-Committee of
Experts on the Transport of Dangerous
Goods (UN-COETDG) was concur-
rently preparing words for incorpo-
ration of gas containers and their
requalification into the 11 th Edition
of the Model Regulations for the
Transportation of Dangerous Goods.
Typically the UN-COETDG considers
ISO standards for incorporation into
the Model Regulations if the stan-
dards are acceptable to the competent
authorities. However, since the current
ISO requalification standards did not
include Ultrasonic Examination as an
alternative to hydraulic pressure test-
ing, the competent authorities estab-
lished a special note to incorporate the
provision for Ultrasonic Examination
in the Model Regulations. The suc-
cess of the ISO effort would first be
revealed when the UN-COETDG
removes the special note that permits
Ultrasonic Examination and accepts
the revised requalification standards
as written.
Recently ISO 6406, Periodic
inspection and testing of seamless steel
gas cylinders and ISO 10461, Periodic
inspection and testing of seamless
aluminum alloy gas cylinders were
issued for Draft International Standard
(DIS) voting. If the working group has
done their job, a favorable vote will
be received and the industry will have
new technology at its disposal.
The true measure of success
will be demonstrated by the test of
time. Can UE survive one hundred
years of exemplary performance ?
New this month
ISO standard tern. The standard seeks, moreover, to
give guidance to the designers of safe- Sizing up card
for safety signs ty signs and get them to use ISO 7010
with a view to obtaining greater overall
dimensions
– used locally, consistency and, thereby, better univer- for international
understood sal public recognition.”
“ The collection of safety signs interchange
globally contained in ISO 7010 is not a mere

I
“collection” of more or less randomly t can be enough of a problem
sampled proposals. The signs included finding the right one at the right

A
picture may be worth a thou- moment among all those identifica-
have given evidence, after year-long
sand words, but when it comes tion cards you carry in your wallet – but
use in different countries, that they will
to graphical symbols for safe- have you ever wondered how much
also be globally understood.”
ty-related information, misunder- more difficult things would be if they
The standard covers 32 safety
standing the message may have seri- were all different shapes and sizes ?
signs designed for use in accident pre-
ous consequences. An International
vention, fire protection and emergency
Standard aims to improve understand-
evacuation, each displayed by a visu-
ing and proper application of safety
al illustration together with the image
signs designed to reduce accidents and
content, function, field and format of
injury in workplaces and public areas
application. Geometric shape and col-
worldwide.
our are also indicated as prescribed
ISO 7010:2003, Graphical sym-
by ISO 3864-1, Graphical symbols –
bols – Safety colours and safety signs The
Safety colours and safety signs – Part
– Safety signs used in workplaces standard for-
1 : Design principles for safety signs in
and public areas, provides a method mat that allows
workplaces and public areas.
of communicating safety information us to slip them
ISO 7010 is intended to be
through a collection of signs designed neatly in our wallets and use
used by all ISO technical committees
for use in any workplace, location and some of them, such as credit
charged with developing specific safe-
sector where safety-related questions cards, worldwide did not fall out
ty signing for their industry to ensure
may be posed. of the sky – it is the result of work
that there is only one safety sign for
According to Paul Bischof, by ISO and IEC (International Electro-
each safety meaning.
Convenor of the working group that technical Commission).
ISO 7010:2003 is the work of
developed the new standard, ISO 7010 Identification cards are used
ISO technical committee ISO/TC 145,
provides a reliable “ red line ” to fol- for multiple purposes, from identify-
Graphical symbols, subcommittee SC
low for those responsible for installing ing customers and their bank accounts
2, Safety identification, signs, shapes,
a safety sign in workplaces and pub- to providing access to buildings and
symbols and colours, working group
lic areas. parking lots. With the continued
WG 1.
“ ISO 7010 sets out to guarantee growth in international trade, travel
that, wherever in the world, a manufac- and mobility of labour, identification
turer of safety signs for workplaces and cards must conform to identical sizes
public areas uses exactly the same pat- and dimensions for use in international
interchange.
ISO/IEC 7810:2003, Identifica-
tion cards – Physical characteristics,
offers an updated set of requirements
to assist manufacturers of cards and
terminals/card readers to comply with
the basic dimensions and properties of
identification cards used in the global
marketplace.
ISO/IEC 7810:2003, which
replaces ISO/IEC 7810:1995, has been
modified to include the card which
is used extensively in the mobile tel-
ephone market (ID-000), to provide
clarification on card opacity by clearly
stating which parts of the card can and
ISO Focus April 2004 35
New this month
cannot be transparent, and by the addi-
tion of card resistance to heat. ISO helps digital ices, as well as demonstrating the
library’s performance and its costs to
“ Manufacturers of cards and
card readers are no longer targeting
libraries self- the funders, the users, and the gener-
al public.
just national markets, they are look- diagnose their John Bertot, member of the ISO
ing at international markets to increase
sales, standards help simplify this electronic subcommittee that developed the new
technical report, commented: “Librar-
process,” said the Convenor of the
working group that developed the new
performance ies that use ISO/TR 20983 will be
able to manage their electronic serv-
standard. ices and resources more effectively

W
ith libraries increasingly
“Larger production volumes and efficiently, provide better custom-
providing electronic serv-
also mean lower costs, another benefit er service by knowing what services
ices and products, a new
of standardization. And at the end of it and resources customers use and with
technical report on methods used to
all, both the credit/debit card and other what frequency, achieve cost savings
evaluate their performance will prove
identification card users benefit from through licensing material that cus-
useful in comparing the effectiveness,
the flexibility of use provided by using tomers desire, and engage in continual
efficiency and quality of the networked
identification cards based on ISO/IEC service improvements by engaging in
environment to the library’s mission
7810.” evaluation activities over time.”
and goals.
The new standard specifies the “There are likely other bene-
ISO/TR 20983:2003, Informa-
physical characteristics of identifica- fits, and more benefits will accrue over
tion and documentation – Performance
tion cards including card character- time as libraries incorporate the tech-
indicators for electronic library serv-
istics, and dimensions for four sizes nical report statistics into their regular
ices, will help evaluate a library’s per-
of cards. It applies to all the different data collection and evaluation efforts.”
formance about the supply, use, costs
identification card technologies, from ISO/TR 20983 provides guid-
or market penetration of electronic
the magnetic stripe and optical card to ance for collecting and reporting of
library services.
contact/contactless integrated circuit electronic service statistics and select-
In addition to being a useful
(IC) card. The new standard is the ed service/resource statistics and defi-
comparative tool, the new technical
work of ISO/IEC JTC 1, Informa- nitions that have undergone extensive
report will serve to support manage-
tion technology, subcommittee SC field-testing through a number of inter-
ment decisions such as reallocating
17, Cards and personal identifica- national studies and efforts.
resources, introducing new services,
tion, working group WG 1, Physical The technical report will be
reducing or deleting existing serv-
characteristics and test methods for used by all types of libraries, (e.g.,
ID-cards. academic, public, special, national,
etc.) as well as library consortia, mul-
ti-type consortia, database vendors and
aggregators, and publishers of elec-
tronic resources.
The new document has been
issued initially as an ISO technical
report (ISO/TR) due to the immedi-
ate need for guidance on performance
indicators for electronic library servic-
es. A working group will monitor the
developments in the measurement and
evaluation of electronic library servic-
es and will propose additional indica-
tors and modifications or adaptations
to those contained in ISO/TR 20983.
The new technical report is the work of
ISO technical committee ISO/TC 46,
Information and documentation, sub-
committee SC 8, Quality – Statistics
and performance evaluation.

36 ISO Focus April 2004


Main Focus
Medical technologies
The first World Standards Cooperation
(WSC) high-level workshop on
International Standards for medical
technologies held in February 2004 is
the point of departure of the Dossier
this month. This event was important
for two reasons: it highlighted the
cooperation between the three mem-
bers of WSC – IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission, ISO
and ITU-T (the International
Telecommunication Union, standardi-
zation sector) – each with its specific
role and activity within the area – and
at the same time, it showed a clear
path forward for standardization
efforts in the field if they are to help
improve global public health, reduce
costs for industry, facilitate the dis-
semination of medical technologies,
reduce barriers to trade, and ensure
technical harmonization and interope-
rability of technologies.
This medical technologies dossier
reviews the direct challenges for the
various sets of actors, such as the
medical devices industry and sur-
geons, of how to minimize risks for
patients without restraining innovation
Coming up
and harming free trade. International
Standards can play a very useful role
in support of regulation of medical
devices, providing they are crafted in
the right way, and at the right
moment; when is this and how is it
most effectively done? The dossier
will show what the needs are to sup-
port the emergence of harmonized
conformity assessment frameworks
and practices based on International
Standards. Standards need to be deve-
loped in such a fashion that they are
efficient, yet at the same time the pro-
cess ensures the participation from all
parties concerned, openness and trans-
parency of the process. How to do this
is the subject of several contributions.
Medical techniques and medicines in
these times of globalization cross
frontiers, so that a big question is
whether standards should lead the new
technologies or reflect them, and how
to ensure early coordination between
stakeholders. Among these stakehol-
ders, the question of developing coun-
tries involvement in the work is cru-
cial if their implementation is to be
truly global; ways therefore need to be
sought to secure representation of
developing countries’ interests in the
standards developing process that
could help define different thresholds
or performance levels.
For standards to be viable, the first
requisite is that the terminology used
should be clear, unambiguous and
harmonized and mean the same con-
cept to all actors concerned. Today’s
medical technologies rely to an ever-
greater extent on IT technology, so
that ISO’s work in health informatics
is examined in the light of its contri-
butions to the field as a whole.
Finally, a new ISO standard on clean-
rooms has been specially designed to
eliminate the hazards of contamina-
tion or minimize the likelihood of
their occurrence.
Developments and
initiatives
Digital Rights
Management
The abuse of
intellectual pro-
perty is well
documented, and
applies equally
well in the world
of standards. Digital Rights
Management (DRM) is a revolutiona-
ry copyright protection system to
benefit both the owners and users of
digitalized intellectual property. In
practice, this is a way of indelibly
encrypting digital “ content ” so that its
future use can be inextricably tied to a
particular piece of hardware, a speci-
fic user and defined set of conditions
or a pay-per-use financial arrange-
ment. A possible course ahead for
standards-developing organizations ?
EbXML
EbXML, a suite of technical specifica-
tions, promises to cut costs and sim-
plify processes for e-business.
Published as ISO technical specifica-
tions, ISO/TS 15000, that was submit-
ted by OASIS (Organization for the
Advancement of Structured
Information Standards), enables enter-
prises in any industry, of any size,
anywhere in the world to conduct
business over the Internet. The
Electronic Business XML (ebXML)
initiative, using the economies of sca-
le presented by the Internet, provides
companies with a standard method to
exchange business messages, conduct
trading relationships, communicate
data in common terms and define and
register business processes. It aims to
make it easier for companies to inter-
face with other companies within and
outside their industry, open up new
markets with less effort than before
and, at the same time, cut costs and
simplify process associated with tradi-
tional document exchange.
When results count !

Global markets.
Global standards.

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