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Home > Speeches and Presentations > Speeches and Presentations 2008 > International Pipeline Conference 2008 - Closing Remarks

International Pipeline Conference 2008 - Closing Remarks

Closing Remarks
Presented by
Sheila Leggett
Vice President and Board Member
National Energy Board

International Pipeline Conference 2008
Hyatt Regency Hotel & Telus Convention Center
Calgary, Alberta

28 September to 3 October 2008

It is a privilege to provide you with closing remarks for this conference. I would like to frame these brief remarks using the theme of 'a culture of excellence.' I am going to talk about excellence in terms of this conference, itself, excellence in terms of the NEB as the Canadian federal regulator and then challenge all of us in terms of looking forward in our continuing pursuit of excellence with respect to the safe and secure delivery of energy supplies to society.

As a co-chair of the conference host committee, I congratulate the conference organizers, those who have presented papers and all participants- all 1300 of us representing more than 40 countries. Individually and collectively, this meeting has allowed us to focus on many key aspects of safe pipeline operations. I know that the calibre of papers presented this week, and the tutorial sessions with the Poster session, created an exchange of technical information that will promote excellence in pipeline transportation throughout the world. Coupled with the social and networking events that the Organizing Committee has provided all of us, and the variety of other meetings that occurred around this  conference, we will leave here today not only better informed with new ideas to take back to our own organizations, but also with new contacts and friends who we can follow-up with to continue to exchange information and share learnings.

Staging a conference like this takes a huge commitment from many individuals and organizations. Establishing and maintaining a culture of excellence by making the commitment to come together every two years to discuss and move ahead on complex applied issues is something that we can all be proud of.

Switching hats now, as Vice-Chair of the NEB, I want to say that the IPC is an important element in the National Energy Board achieving its goals through the advancement of new technologies and the sharing of knowledge and best practices. The NEB has been involved in organizing and programming of each International Pipeline Conference since the first event in 1996. This year is no exception. The NEB is well represented here today, and some of our best engineers have spent countless hours ensuring that the planning and technical content of this conference would provide a culture of excellence for all of us to thrive in.   Ken Paulson of the NEB is the current Chair of the ASME Pipeline Systems Division, and Ken co-chaired this year's IPC Organizing Committee. Dr. Alan Murray of the NEB represents us on IPC's Organizing Committee and Joe Pavilianiti was one of the Technical Committee Co-Chairs.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the National Energy Board, let me take just a few minutes to introduce our organization to you. We are a Canadian Federal energy regulator. Our responsibilities include regulating:

  • The construction and operation of pipelines
  • Transportation, tolls and tariffs
  • International trade in oil, gas and electricity as well as some frontier Oil & Gas regulation.

We also have an advisory function that includes monitoring the energy sector, providing advice to the Federal Government and issuing public reports that deal to a broad variety of aspects of energy supply and demand.

We were created by an Act of Parliament in 1959. Doing the math, that tells you that we will proudly celebrate our 50th anniversary next year.

The purpose of the NEB is to promote safety and security, environmental protection and efficient energy infrastructure and markets in the Canadian public interest. This is no small task:  I believe it is becoming more complex in today's society. To achieve our goals, we promote a culture of excellence both inside and outside the NEB. I'd like to elaborate on how we pursue excellence internally and externally.

Within the NEB, we are striving continually to improve the delivery of our regulatory mandate in an efficient and effective manner. Our vision is that "The NEB is an active, effective and knowledgeable partner in the responsible development of Canada's energy sector for the benefit of Canadians."  We have a Values statement: "At the NEB we strive for excellence in all that we do."  Excellence at the NEB is driven by organizational and personal commitment to three key corporate values- integrity, regulatory leadership and accountability. These aspects of our Strategic Plan guide us in all that we undertake.

Our involvement with IPC is one of many ways we maintain our own culture of excellence. If you will allow just a little bit of bragging, it was with great delight that we heard yesterday that we had been named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. We can thank the vision and leadership of the people who have been associated with the NEB for the past 50 years, as well as our excellent current staff, for positioning us to have received this honor. We also thank our many partners including other members of Canada's Federal government family, fellow regulators and the pipeline industry itself, for expecting nothing short of excellence from the NEB. This has positioned us well and we are thrilled to have been recognized in yesterday's announcement by Maclean's magazine.

I believe that the culture of excellence is fundamental to our organization and it means that all stakeholders can be assured that when you are dealing with the NEB, you know that we will serve the Canadian public interest in a fair and objective manner.

This brings me to the culture of excellence outside the NEB. What, then, do we expect of the companies we regulate?

I'm sure you can tell from my comments so far that we expect excellence from each and every regulated company in Canada. And we believe that companies share this commitment to excellence.

Goal-oriented regulation was introduced by the NEB in 1999. With it came the requirement for companies to have management programs and systems in place. The Board has conducted over 27 baseline audits to determine the adequacy of corporate management programs and systems. The results of these audits indicate that the majority of companies regulated by the NEB have programs, and in some cases, comprehensive management systems, in place. We believe that the groundwork has been laid to enable companies to effectively deal proactively with hazards.

The next step that the Board has taken, with the intent of continuous improvement, is to develop a risk-based life cycle model which includes all of the available data and knowledge about the companies the NEB regulates. This helps the Board identify areas where it can use its compliance activities to meet the goals of safety and security of the public and the environment, as well as to influence change and promote a culture of excellence throughout the industry as a whole.

What, then, potentially keeps us up at night as regulators?  Recently we have become aware of a potential developing trend of safety related incidents associated with the construction and operation of pipelines. Our July 2008 report entitled "Focus on Safety and Environment" indicated a rising rate of injury frequencies in 2006. Two fatalities in 2008, a number of serious injuries, some near misses, and pipeline failures have us quite concerned. Safety is, and always will be, of paramount concern to the NEB. We are always asking ourselves how we, as a Regulator, can help to prevent, reduce and ultimately, eliminate these events.

We do not undertake this work in isolation. We share continual improvement and safety goals with many partners: other regulators and industry. For example, the Board has specific agreements with sister agencies such as PHMSA, the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, the ERCB, the AUC and the CNSOPB that have been designed on the premise that regulatory efficiency and sharing of knowledge benefits all stakeholders.

As is often said, but I think bears repeating, "pipe doesn't know when it crosses a boundary": Safety is a priority in every jurisdiction. Given our shared vision of safety, reliability and environmental protection, the NEB strongly supports standardization and regulatory rationalization.

Nine years have passed since our introduction of goal-oriented regulation. The Board's current expectation is that by now, these management programs should be implemented, and well understood, throughout each regulated company. The Board also expects companies to have continuous improvement reviews and activities in place, associated with these programs and well developed management systems that will ensure that the intent of our regulations continues to be met through tout the lifetime of the pipeline.

It is within this culture of excellence on an individual and collective basis that the number of safety incidents and pipeline failures can be reduced, and that we can all sleep well at night knowing that everyone finished a safe day of work, and that our society has a safe and secure energy supply. The Canadian Public demand nothing less of us.

Thank you for your time this afternoon. Please join me in a round of applause for the Organizing Committee that put together this outstanding program and opportunity for all of us.

Sheila Leggett
Vice-Chair of the National Energy Board

 

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Date Modified:
2011-10-28