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Offshore Oil&Gas installations face unique security challenges due to their remote and often vulnerable nature, as dramatically confirmed by the large number of past incidents occurred worldwide in the offshore sector. This paper delves into the security management of these installations, with the specific focus on the Italian context. It explores the strategies implemented by Italian authorities and industry stakeholders to address security challenges in the offshore sector, pointing out the regulatory framework and industry standards. Additionally, the paper discusses methodologies for conducting a security risk assessment in offshore Oil&Gas facilities and identifies best practices for the adoption of security measures to enhance security resilience in this sector. By leveraging the Italian experience, this paper aims at providing insights and practical recommendations regarding the security management of offshore operations.

Exploration, drilling, production, transportation, and logistics in offshore environment play a crucial role in the global energy sector, contributing substantially to the world's oil and gas supply. Ensuring safe offshore operations is key requirement for the social acceptability of offshore activities. The Legislative Decree n. 145/2015 (Italian transposition of the European Directive 2013/30) has established the creation of a Competent Authority responsible for overseeing and coordinating various aspects related to maritime safety as a multi-branch structure which comprises key representatives from various public bodies. This article will delve into key aspects of offshore activities and their safety performance. The available data (years from 2016 to 2023) on offshore operations in the Italian offshore are analysed using specifically developed key performance indicators. The data includes the number and type of offshore installations, total offshore working hours, total oil and gas production rates, reported inspections conducted offshore. Data on past undesirable events occurred in Italian offshore installations were also analysed. Through the examination of these quantitative indicators, the article aims to provide a comprehensive insight of the state and safety of the Italian offshore hydrocarbon upstream activities, crucial for stakeholders, regulators, and industry.

The increasing interconnectivity with external networks and the higher reliance on digital systems make chemical and process industries, including waste and drinking water treatment plants, more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Historical evidence shows that these attacks have the potential to cause events with severe consequences on property, people, and the surrounding environment, posing a serious threat. While the risks deriving from the malicious manipulation of the Basic Process Control System (BPCS) and the Safety Instrumented System (SIS) in chemical and Oil&Gas facilities have been systematically analysed in the available literature, including previous works of the Authors, the analysis of the consequences of cyber-attacks to drinking water treatment plants has not been conducted to date. To fill this gap, in the present study the methodology POROS 2.0 (Process Operability Analysis of Remote manipulations through the cOntrol System) developed by the Authors was applied to a drinking water treatment plant, providing valuable insights on possible critical scenarios originated by cyber-attacks in these facilities.

Deliberate attacks (security attacks) pose a significant threat to offshore Oil&Gas critical infrastructures as they have the potential of triggering major event scenarios with severe consequences on people, property, and the surrounding environment. The standards API RP 70 and API RP 70I address security issues in the offshore Oil&Gas sector, providing a semi-quantitative approach to evaluate the actual level of security risk. However, as the credibility of security attacks grows, security risk assessments should be approached in a more systematic and quantitative way to measure vulnerabilities and determine the level of protection available in the site. In this context, the present study introduces a systematic quantitative procedure using Bayesian Network (BN) to calculate the probability of success of physical attacks and the role of preventive and mitigative response strategies. The procedure is applied to a case study allowing to show its potential for improving security in the offshore Oil&Gas industry.

Offshore Oil&Gas fluid production installations may be the target of intentional malicious acts (security attacks) carried out by adversaries of different nature and different motivations which may generate major events with severe consequences on workers, the environment and the property. The current study reviews the state of the art concerning the security of Offshore Oil&Gas operations, which is typically addressed according to best practices and qualitative or semi-quantitative methods. However, systematic approaches or guidelines in support of the analysis are still lacking. The current study investigates the possibility of using Adversary Sequence Diagrams (ASDs) as Security Vulnerability/Risk Assessment (SVA/SRA) supporting tools. A case study addressing a fixed Offshore Oil&Gas fluid production platform proved the ability of ASDs to provide credible attack modes within the Physical Protection System (PPS) that the adversaries have to perform in order to accomplish their objectives, as well as the security barriers that can potentially be effective in delaying and detecting the attacks, which are information required by SVA/SRA studies.

The adoption of a sustainability perspective in chemical industry shall start from the early phases of process design (e.g. conceptual design, technology selection, process development) where the key drivers in the environmental, economical, and hazard fingerprint of a process are defined. These phases also allow the opportunities for the lower cost of design change. A sound support of design activities requires quantitative tools, allowing for the assessment of the sustainability profile of a process, the identification of possible improvements and supporting informed tradeoffs. Though several tools for process development were proposed in last decades, application is still limited in the current practice because of issues on data requirement, indicator definition and customization to specific application needs (e.g. PFD definition in design of polypropylene production plants). This study focuses on the application to the early process design of environmental and exergy Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to support sustainability-oriented design activities. It was tailored on the specific industrial application of polypropylene production plants. The choice of a specific sector allowed customization of the method, promoting ease of application and allowing the assessment of multiple scenarios (e.g. sensitivity on material and energy supply strategies, comparison of different technologies). Results obtained draw up sustainable guidelines to improve design activities within the scope in a lifecycle perspective.

Due to the large quantities of hazardous materials stored and processed, chemical and process plants may be attractive targets for security attacks (e.g. terrorist attacks) that can severely impact workers, the population, the surrounding environment, and property. According to well established Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) and Security Risk Assessment (SRA) methodologies, the shooting threat to a chemical and process facility shall be investigated; however, the development of adequate damage models in case of shooting attacks using small/light weapons to industrial equipment units is still lacking. In the present study, an extended set of perforation models was retrieved from the literature and was validated against experimental data from perforation tests. The most reliable perforation models for soft core projectiles were selected and used to assess the vulnerability to perforation of atmospheric tanks storing hazardous materials for two reference projectiles enabling the identification of inherent safety threshold values for perforation thickness.

Cyber-attacks are becoming a growing concern for process facilities that highly rely on Operational Technology (OT) systems for the potential severity of the consequences on humans, assets, and the environment that can be generated. The study is based on the development of synergic tools aimed at filling the gap in the availability of specific approaches to support cyber risk identification phase required by Security Vulnerability/Risk Assessment methodologies and the cybersecurity risk assessment proposed by ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards on cybersecurity of Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS).

The possibility of inducing major accident scenarios by physical intentional attacks (e.g. terrorist attacks) to chemical and process plants processing and storing hazardous substances, has been increasingly recognized in the last decades. The identification of the credible security scenarios (chain from attack scenarios to major accident scenarios) is required by Security Vulnerability/Risk Assessment (SVA/SRA) methodologies, but an evident lack of supporting tools is present in the literature. The present study proposes a Bow-Tie approach for the identification of reference security scenarios to support hazard identification phase in SVA/SRA. The potential use of the results is demonstrated on a test case (industrial atmospheric tank storing a flammable liquid).

Offshore Oil&Gas operations are a key part of the supply of energy in many countries. Worldwide, about a third of the oil is produced offshore and, in Europe, more than 80% of the current Oil&Gas production takes place offshore. Offshore Oil&Gas installations may be the target of malicious acts aiming at causing severe impacts in terms of damage and media coverage, comparable to the outcomes of major accidents originating from safety-related causes. The attractiveness of such installations is linked to the high amount of hazardous substances handled, their socio-political location, and the possibility of obtaining proprietary information important for the business. In the present study, in order to frame a clear picture of the security threats affecting offshore Oil&Gas operations, a database of 2222 security-related incidents occurred in the last 49 years was developed and analysed. Itemized categories used to classify the events by industrial sector, security threats, attack modes, and final scenarios triggered by the malicious acts, were defined and analysed with Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA). Correlations among itemized categories were investigated using Correspondence Analysis (CA). Overall, the results show the concreteness of the security threats to offshore Oil&Gas installations.

Cyber-attacks aimed to interfere with the Basic Process Control System (BPCS) and the SIS (Safety Instrumented System) of industrial facilities where large quantities of hazardous substances are stored or handled may have consequences comparable to those of conventional major accidents due to internal causes. While consolidated approaches exist to manage and control the cybersecurity of IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) systems of a plant, there is an evident lack of operating procedures for assessing the actual link between malicious manipulations of the BPCS and the SIS (OT system) and the major accidents that can be induced. In the present study a specific operating systematic methodology, PHAROS, was developed to address the identification of major accident scenarios achievable by remote manipulation of the physical components of the plant (e.g. automatic valves, pumps, compressors, etc.). The methodology exploits a reverse-HazOp concept and it also supports the definition of the specifications for the design and management of barriers aimed at the prevention and mitigation of such scenarios. The application of PHAROS to a demonstrative case study evidenced first that both the BPCS and the SIS typically need to be attacked in order to induce major accidents, and second, that passive/inherent safeguards have a key role with respect to the success of the considered malicious attack in case they are properly designed.

The process industry and similar sectors are undergoing a digital transition towards higher levels of automation. This, while ensuring advantages such as efficient process control, quick and safe response to abnormal conditions, improvement of product quality and continuous process optimization, it exposes the process sites to cybersecurity threats. A cyber-attack, besides economic and reputation damages, can potentially trigger major accidents (e.g. loss of containment of hazardous materials) with severe consequences on workers, population and the environment. In the present study, the cybersecurity-related incidents (CSIs) that occurred in the chemical, petrochemical, energy production, and water/wastewater sectors, were investigated. The analysis is based on the development of a database of 78 cybersecurity-related incidents. The aim of the study is to frame a clear picture of the cyber-attacks on IT-OT (Information Technology - Operational Technology) system of process facilities and to issue lessons learnt from past incidents.

In the last decade, microalgae cultivation has become an attractive solution for biomass valorisation. From an industrial standpoint, one important aspect is the combination of the mixotrophic growth of microalgae with the biosynthesis of fatty acids, which represents a sustainable feedstock for the biodiesel chain. Nevertheless, the actual energy-effectiveness of the whole process is doubtful as the indispensable biomass recovery and drying steps are energy-intensive. To discuss this issue, this work presents a comparison between a 3rd generation biodiesel production plant and a methanol synthesis facility, powered by photovoltaic (PV) electricity from sunlight. The objective is to evaluate the energy efficiency of the two production processes (by means of KPIs) given the same solar incidence area. The two process designs assume the best available technologies for the operations involved, in terms of reaction conversions and separation performances to maximise the yield in the final product.

Nowadays most of energy supply and chemicals are produced from fossil fuels. However, environmental concerns like global warming, depletion of non-renewable resources and pollution, force to search for more sustainable alternative feedstocks. In this framework, the valorization of renewable resources is currently one of the most promising strategies for the next future. In particular, the use of biomass is ranked first for production of chemicals. One of the most attractive compounds that can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass is Levulinic acid (LA). The present work analyses, from a technical, economic and safety standpoint, the valorization of waste biomass (OPEFB, oil palm empty fruit bunch) to LA with different methodologies. Energy demand of the plant and the separation efficiency are evaluated carrying out process simulations by the commercial software Aspen HYSYS V10. The obtained results allowed an economic analysis of the alternatives, based on the evaluation of investment and main operating costs. The alternatives were screened on the basis of net present value (NPV) of costs. Safety performance was investigated by an inherent safety assessment method. This considered toxic dispersion and fire scenarios, calculating the damage distances associated with the potential outcomes of an accident and allowing for the evaluation of a potential hazard index for each main process equipment. The choice of the optimal layout configuration for the production of LA in early phases of design allowed to address, in a time and cost-effective way, further design activities in reducing the energy demand and ensuring potentially safer plants making the whole process more sustainable.

Seveso III Directive (2012/18/EU) requires operators to demonstrate that they have identified major accident hazards and scenarios, and that they have implemented adequate actions to prevent such accidents. Safety reports issued under the Seveso Directive specifically address accident scenarios caused by technical or human failures. Scenarios caused by intentional acts are usually not considered, even if they have a wide potential to harm the workers and the exposed population in the vicinity of Seveso sites. The present contribution focuses on the characterization of physical security-related scenarios in the framework of safety and security management of Seveso sites, identified taking advantages of the potential synergies between safety and security studies. The role of physical security barriers is explored. Finally, the use of protection distances from critical and vulnerable units is presented to support the selection of the barriers.

In the present framework of global energy transition, a significant increase in the use of carbon-neutral synthetic fuels as renewable energy carriers is expected in the next years. Renewable resources are huge even though scarcely exploitable due to aleatory availability and costs of transportation when produced in remote areas and offshore. Thus, the synergy of methanol production with oil & gas activities represents a beneficial opportunity to share infrastructures and convert renewable energy in a synthetic liquid fuel which can be easily stored and transported. Renewable methanol is a valuable chemical and an energy transition fuel with several applications, in particular in the mobility sector. Moreover, the use of carbon dioxide as raw material for the methanol synthesis could have a positive impact on the global carbon balance, valorising the attractive Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) concept. However, the novelty of renewable methanol process technologies in the renewable energy context requires a thorough investigation of the critical concerns of the possible routes, among which the safety challenges are prominent. The application of the inherent safety approach can play a paramount role for orienting choices in the preliminary design phases of safer methanol production processes. In the present study, reference schemes for processes proposed for renewable synthetic methanol production were defined. The expected inherent safety performance of the alternative processes were assessed by a specific system of multi-criteria key performance indicators (KPIs), based on the consequence simulation of potential accident scenarios affecting different targets (i.e. humans, assets, environment) both onshore and offshore. The results of the applied methodology allowed a preliminary screening of the hazard level of the alternative process routes, as well as the identification of the key safety issues that need to be addressed in the further development of inherently safer methanol production technologies.

Offshore oil & gas operations are one of the most hazardous upstream activities since limited space and compact geometry contribute to increase the risk of major accidents. Currently many offshore projects are evolving towards the exploitation of more challenging hydrocarbon fields. The use of the inherent safety philosophy in early stages of the offshore installation design can save lifetime costs and pursue high safety standards. Moreover, an index-based design approach is a comprehensive way to communicate the hazard level of a process route. In this study, a method based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) was introduced to assess the inherent safety performance of alternative offshore designs through the modelling of credible accidents consequences for different targets. The main goal is to provide an efficient support tool for safety-oriented choices during the preliminary design steps. A case study regarding an offshore platform processing associated gas with hydrogen sulphide was presented.

Hydrogen chloride (HCl) is a typical contaminant generated in waste combustion, whose emission is strictly regulated. In order to cope with severe limits issued by local authorities on the annual mass flow of HCl emitted, several European waste-to-energy plants perform at least a two-stage abatement of the pollutant and operate with a set-point for HCl concentration at stack well below the hourly emission limit imposed by the Industrial Emissions Directive. Even though the operating conditions in a WtE facility are highly variable (both in terms of HCl release from the burnt waste and of operating temperature of the HCl removal system), it is common industrial practice to keep both the set-point for HCl concentration at stack and the set-point for HCl concentration between the two abatement stages at a constant value. However, this might force the abatement system to operate far from its design conditions and from the optimal reactivity window of the adopted HCl removal agent, thus increasing the consumption rate of reactant and the consequent generation rate of process residues. Both the supply chain of reactants and the management of residues generate environmental impacts. The present work demonstrates that the adoption of variable values for both set-points can provide cost savings and indirect environmental benefits, thanks to the reduction of reactant consumption and residue generation. By considering as case study a WtE plant equipped with a two-stage dry HCl removal system, a year of operation of the plant was analysed. The operating costs and life cycle impacts generated by the actual operation of the HCl treatment system with constant set-points were compared with those generated if the plant had operated with variable set-points, simulated with a semi-empirical model for HCl removal tuned on historical process data from the plant. A 13 % reduction of the life cycle global warming impact and an 8 % reduction of the life cycle acidification impact, in addition to 10 % cost savings, were associated to the utilisation of variable set-points.

In the present paper, a methodology for the determination of inherent safety distances for escalation and layout optimization has been introduced. A survey of past domino accidents triggered by thermal explosions have been carried out and analysed with the aim of a deeper understanding of the possible primary scenarios and related escalation vectors.