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Oil & Gas Industry Standards

Oil & Gas Industry Standards

Oil and gas is a crucial industry and has the highest profit value in the modern economy. This sector faces many challenges between workplace safety, asset management, facility upkeep and environmental and legal regulations.

ISO standards for the oil and gas industry help these operations maintain profitability and efficiency. NQA is a certification body with years of experience working with clients in the oil and gas sector. Our comprehensive auditing services will improve your organization while ensuring you meet your chosen standard's requirements.

About the Oil and Gas Industry

The oil and gas industry involves processing oil, gas and similar products. It has three key areas:

  1. Upstream: Exploring to identify natural gas or crude oil fields and extracting the resource by drilling into wells
  2. Midstream: Refining, transporting, storing and processing the gas and oil
  3. Downstream: Filtering the raw materials and marketing and commercially distributing these products to consumers

The most common products made from oil and gas include:

  • Diesel oil
  • Gasoline
  • Kerosene
  • Fuel oil and gasoline (petrol)
  • Natural gas
  • Asphalt
  • Liquified petroleum gas (LPG)
  • Heating oil
  • Lubricants
  • Jet fuel
  • Petrochemicals

These products are used as-is or are the primary materials for other goods, like fertilizers, plastics, pharmaceuticals and solvents.

Some trends in the oil and gas industry include:

  • Focusing on infrastructure improvements to meet companies' growth
  • Implementing sustainable practices to reduce environmental impact
  • Introducing augmented and virtual reality devices in the workplace to inspect dangerous areas

Challenges the Oil and Gas Industry Faces

The oil and gas market can be unpredictable, with prices higher than ever before. These costs mean oil and gas companies need an optimized production chain that adds value to the product while keeping expenses low.

Some challenges in the oil and gas industry include:

  • Supply chain terrorism: Supply chain terrorism harms people or property to intimidate a population or coerce a decision from the government. It uses the supply chain to move something disruptive or targets the supply chain. Hubs, vessels, refineries and other oil and gas infrastructure are common supply chain terrorism targets. Certain regions are most at risk for this issue, so oil and gas companies that work in these places must be prepared. Severe attacks could cause operations to shut down, affecting profits and legal compliance.
  • Sea piracy: Sea piracy is an act of violence or theft on the seas. Oil and gas infrastructure, such as crude oil and refined product tankers, are common targets of sea piracy. This stolen product results in lost profits.
  • Natural disasters: Natural weather disasters like floods, tsunamis and earthquakes damage global supply chains. Weather events can cause factories to close down, which reduces or stops the production of essential parts. Without these parts, the rest of the supply chain cannot produce its final products.
  • Geographical risks: The location of your company's raw materials can affect your logistics and profits. Depending on the region, transportation can be difficult and costly. Geopolitical events can interrupt the region's production, halting the supply chain.
  • Environmental effects: Incidents in your supply chain can damage the environment. This damage may introduce remediation costs for cleaning up the area, and your brand's reputation may be affected. The rising popularity of alternative and renewable energy is a threat to oil and gas companies.
  • Supplier visibility: Your oil and gas business must have total visibility into its suppliers' practices and operations. By doing this, you can ensure they follow environmental policies, security requirements and other regulations.

ISO Standards for the Oil and Gas Industry Supported by NQA

ISO certifications for the oil and gas industry include:

  • ISO 9001: ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality management systems. Successful businesses have quality controls, so this standard uses organizational management to improve your operations. As a result, you will have better products and satisfied customers. It is compatible with other management systems, including ISO 14001.
  • ISO 14001: ISO 14001 is an environmental management systems standard. It outlines requirements for the creation and upkeep of an environmental management system. This system helps you control the environmental aspects of your work and ensure they're legally compliant and have a lower ecological impact.
  • ISO 50001: ISO 50001 is an environmental standard for energy management in organizations. Its framework helps companies optimize their energy consumption efficiently. Being certified to ISO 50001 demonstrates that you comply to legislative regulations, are an industry leader and are dedicated to improving your energy management.
  • ISO 45001: ISO 45001 is the leading standard for occupational health and safety. It mitigates factors in the work environment that could harm employees' health and well-being. By controlling these circumstances, the chances of an accident, injury or other harm are reduced.
  • ISO 27001: ISO 27001 keeps information confidential, available and legally compliant. It's the international standard for information security management systems. Certification to this standard mitigates security threats like vandalism, theft and cyberattacks. ISO 27001 will not cover General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
  • PAS 2060: PAS 2060 is the only international standard for carbon neutrality. Many companies strive to become carbon neutral, and certification to PAS 2060 will help your company prove this through measurement, reduction, offsetting and documentation. This standard builds upon the principles of ISO 14001.
  • ISO 55001: ISO 55001 is a standard for asset management. Companies with significantly high assets in cost or number will benefit from the management principles outlined in this standard. It provides an asset management system to mitigate risk and record performance to identify growth opportunities.
  • ISO 37001: ISO 37001 is the international standard for anti-bribery management systems. Your company can prevent, identify and resolve bribery conducted by and against your company. It builds upon management system standards like ISO 9001 by introducing certain measures.
  • ISO 22301: ISO 22301 is the international standard for business continuity management systems. It helps businesses move forward after emergency events. Its framework aids preparation, response and recovery from incidents that disrupt usual business. It also establishes measures to prevent these interruptions.

Benefits of Oil and Gas ISO Certifications

Oil and gas industry standards certifications through NQA will benefit your business in these ways:

  • Increase revenue: Through efficient workflows, asset management and sustainable practices, your oil and gas company can realize better profit margins.
  • Better efficiency: Quality management systems like ISO 9001 will increase your efficiency by creating quality control measures.
  • Ensure employee safety: Occupational health and safety standards such as ISO 45001 ensure your workers' physical safety around raw materials.
  • Boost supplier relationships: Being certified to oil and gas ISO certifications will help improve your relationships with your suppliers.
  • Implement sustainable practices: ISO 14001 and other environmental standards help your company reduce its environmental impact, which is essential in the oil and gas industry.
  • Identify improvement opportunities: Getting certified requires analyzing your business processes to pinpoint opportunities for improvement.
  • Meet international standards: Since ISO standards are recognized globally, all your suppliers and customers will recognize your certification is a dedication to efficiency and streamlined operations.

Why Work with NQA for ISO Certifications for the Oil and Gas Industry?

NQA is a certification body that provides inspection and certification services for the oil and gas industry. Our audits use a practical and supportive approach to help improve your organization while meeting your selected standard's requirements.

We have worked with several oil and gas companies, including Aquaterra Energy, and we also serve industries such as energy, chemical, transportation and agriculture. NQA has issued more than 50,000 certificates in 90 countries and has head offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and China. 

NQA offers:

  • Value for the cost: Our oil and gas ISO certifications and auditing services are competitively priced for great services at an exceptional value. Our rates have no hidden fees.
  • Comprehensive services: We offer various certification services for many ISO standards. Certification is recognized globally and will promote efficiency within your company.
  • Professional expertise: Our team will help you understand the requirements for certification to your chosen standard and the certification process steps.
  • Updates on standard developments: Our worldwide network of experts is in the technical committees that write ISO standards. We can keep you up to date on developments with the standards and how to adapt.
  • Improvement focus: When we conduct the audit to assess your compliance, our team will also identify improvement opportunities you can follow.
  • Different training methods: Learn new technical skills in an online, in-house or classroom format. Choose the medium that works best for you.

Request a Quote for your Certification Audit Today

Oil and gas certifications help these companies stay ahead in a competitive environment by improving management, product quality and profits. NQA is a leading provider of certification audits for oil and gas companies. Certification ensures continuous improvements in management, legal compliance, sustainability and quality.

Request a quote for an ISO standard audit and select the package that fits your business. If you have any questions or want more information about ISO certifications for the oil and gas industry, contact us online.