On April 27-28, the virtual conference “Cross-Border Coordination in Spill Prevention and Response in Suriname-Guyana Basin - Collaborative Solutions Enhancing Regional Capacity” was held, supported by ARPEL.

The conference had three key purposes: first, to increase awareness on the responsible actions carried out by the industry to prevent a major incident; second, to provide an overview of what the underwater response looks like, its dependences on processes and coordinated strategies, while highlighting the resources available to the industry; and last, to develop practical recommendations for governments to create a regional framework in dealing with protocols and consistent response methodologies.

ARPEL took part in two cases―a panel on the Business Associations Role, which analyzed the organizations’ role in supporting the development of the sector, particularly as related to oil spills and cooperation matters, and a session to present the RETOS tool.

The panel on the Business Associations Role was integrated by Wafik Beydoun, from IOGP, Mike DuBose, from IADC, Alexa Burr, from API, Yannick Autret, from Total/IPIECA, and Miguel Moyano, Acting Executive Secretary of ARPEL.

In turn, Session 5 on the “National and Regional Capacity for Spill Response and Management” was delivered by RAC/REMPEITC-Caribe and Moyano, from ARPEL, on ARPEL Manual and the RETOS tool.

The RETOS tool (available in Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese) is a unique assessment tool that provides a guide for oil and gas operators and governments to check their own oil spill readiness and response management.

Both ARPEL Manual and RETOS can be downloaded for free from this link: https://arpel.org/library/publication/341/