IPR Development Facility - Assistance with ESAP Implementation - Environmental and Social Advisors

Assignment Description: In 2014 EBRD provided a loan to an independent upstream oil and gas group (the "Client") to support their oilfield operational activities in Egypt. The Client operates in the fields in Egypt through their Joint Venture ("JV") companies.

The EBRD loan covers on-going activities at the Client's producing fields in Egypt, including drilling and work-over operations, and use of enhanced oil recovery techniques to maximise production of oil from mature fields. The independent environmental and social due diligence commissioned for the EBRD approval process in 2013, identified some gaps between the current standing of the Project and EBRD’s Environmental and Social Performance Requirements. In order to ensure the Client’s performance achieves compliance with the EBRD environmental and social requirements, an Environmental and Social Action Plan, has been developed, to be implemented by the Client over a number of years. Some of the actions included in the ESAP include:

· development of the environmental and social management system for operational facilities

· ES training of the financial, technical and operational management

· nomination of the person responsible for the ESAP implementation

· developing operating procedures for minimisation, treatment and disposal or use of associated gas, produced water and drilling cuttings

· conducting environmental monitoring and GHG assessment

· conducting a contamination survey and a clean-up

· developing waste management procedures

· conducting fire safety assessment and purchasing additional fire-fighting system

· development of an employee grievance mechanism

· hiring and/or training community liaison officer to establish a pro-active engagement with Bedouins

The key objectives of this assignment are to (a) expedite the implementation of the Environmental and Social Action Plan by the Client, (b) foster required management activities and investments required to achieve a full compliance with EBRD Environmental and Social Performance Requirements, and (c) provide regular independent and objective assessment on the progress of ESAP implementation to the Bank through regular reporting.

The consultant will work with the EBRD and the Client to independently assess the status of the ESAP implementation and to identify key operational, technical and financial constraints to timely and satisfactory delivery of required outcomes. The consultant will also assist the Client in identifying required practical actions to achieve compliance with ESAP actions, and supervise the preparatory and on-going ESAP activities to ensure their scope and content satisfies EBRD requirements, and provide the Client with required guidance and coaching throughout the implementation and monitoring of required ESAP actions.

In order to achieve these objectives the consultant will implement the following activities in consultation and in cooperation with the Client:

· Review the current status of the Project (e.g. design phase; engineering phase, construction phase, operation phase, and identify any changes to the original description of the Project (e.g. significant reduction or increase of the originally planned activities, delays or anticipation of previously agreed Project schedule; change of previously agreed capacity increase, change of a site of the planned activities; significant alteration of the previously agreed scope of activities or introduction of a new process technology, etc.) and assess if such changes will entail material changes and therefore require commissioning additional impacts assessment surveys or studies or revisions to the previously agreed ESAP. Report such changes to the Bank and assist the Client in identifying the scope and timing of required additional studies and closely supervise their implementation.

· Review the environmental and social management structure, resources and capacity both at the Client and Joint Venture levels and assess any needs for enhancing the organisational structure and additional capacity building, including in-house or external training, or hiring required personnel, identifying their scope of work and functions; expanding or revising their current tasks. Discuss and agree proposed changes with the Client and EBRD.

· Review the decision-making, accountability and reporting lines for environmental, health, safety, labour and social issues within the overall organisational structure at both the IPR and the Joint Venture companies levels and, if required, recommend changes to the organisational structure, format and modality of reporting lines within each IPR and JV companies as well as between IPR and JV companies, to ensure that important information is communicated promptly and facilitates taking decisions by non-HSE people.

· Review most recent environmental and social policies, management systems and procedures, developed by the Client and by its JV companies, against the IFIs environmental and social requirements and standards and Good International Industry Practice (e.g. International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, etc.), verify their actual implementation and if, required, assist the Client in developing realistic measurable leading and lagging performance indicators, that will allow tracking and analysing the success and effectiveness of the management system and procedures. Such leading indicators may include, for example, indicators relating to resources savings (water, electricity, drilling mud); reduced volume of discharged untreated wastewater and effluent; improved waste water quality; drop in occupational health and safety diseases or Lost-Time Incidents; etc.

· Identify any gaps or any constraints hindering implementation of the ESAP and management systems to the required standard. Alert EBRD and the Client to these gaps and constraints and identify pragmatic solutions to addressing such gaps in reasonable time.

· Identify improvement needs, which are crucial of the successful implementation of ESAP and overall compliance with the Bank’s Performance Requirements; which may, for example, include increased maintenance schedule for equipment, urgent repairs or modifications of equipment, changes of the layout or location of the site; procurement of new equipment or process technology; better logging of activities and improved record-keeping; developing monitoring and follow-up measures, etc. Discuss and agree the cost and timing of such improvement measures with HSE, technical, operational and financial management of the Client and in consultation with the Client’s JV companies.

· Identify urgent investment needs and required capital expenditures to bring the Company’s environmental, health and safety performance in line with national and international standards and assist the Client in identifying suppliers of relevant cost-effective services, technologies and equipment, including required laboratory equipment. This particularly refers to emissions abatement and prevention equipment; sewage and storm water collection, treatment and final disposal; produced water, drilling sludge and drilling cuttings analysis, treatment, neutralisation and final disposal; and fire safety equipment.

· Propose revisions to the existing ESAP based on the findings of the above tasks by amending existing tasks, adding new tasks and identifying new implementation deadlines.

· Conduct regular meetings with the Client, and in consultation with Client the JV companies’ HSE staff and review their annual HSE plans against ESAP actions and milestones as well as against development plans and work schedules and revise the scope and implementation deadlines for such plans as necessary to ensure a timely implementation of required actions.

· Regularly visit operational sites included in the Borrowing base and verify required environmental and health and safety investments have been implemented. Flag any identified delays and challenges in commissioning, installation and start-up of required environmental and health and safety installations and facilities to the HSE, technical, operational and financial management of the Client and JV companies and jointly work on addressing such issues.

· Regularly meet with the technical and operational management and work with them to incorporate required ESAP actions into work-plans and development programmes.

· Review training records for 2016 and future training plans to assess any additional training needs and identify and suggest the scope, modality and suppliers of required additional training.

· Regularly meet with the technical, operational and financial management of the Client and related Joint Venture companies to identify allocation and approval of budget for environmental and health and safety related investment and specific ESAP-required investments, including training.

· Supervise and review pertinent budget estimates and approval, tendering and contracting process related to the sourcing of equipment and services for the ESAP implementation, obtain relevant factual evidence of relevant internal process and decisions, and submit such evidence along with the disbursement request for ESAP Committed Funds. Sign-off on disbursement requests upon obtaining no-objection from the Bank.

The consultant will review progress on each task to ensure its quality and timely adjustment of their content and modality to the on-going and planned activities of the Client and JV companies.

The consultant will also verify disbursements requests for the ESAP Committed Funds against the technical requirements of the ESAP and ensure that these efficiently address the areas of risk identified through the site specific work including site investigation and monitoring.

It is expected that the consultant will spend at least 40% of their assignment time in the field in Egypt.

Assignment Duration: The assignment shall commence in November 2016. Initial duration of the assignment will be two years and it could further extended if project needs require such extension.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 200,000; exclusive of VAT. The budget can be extended subject to the project needs, the consultant’s satisfactory performance and the availability of funding.

The consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the Bank's special status as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purhcased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: EBRD's own resources.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.

Consultant Profile: The consultant will be a firm or consortium of firms and shall have relevant experience in conducting environmental and social appraisal, audit and monitoring activities on oil and gas development projects and providing environmental and social advisory services to the oil and gas industry. An expertise in soil and groundwater contamination surveys, fate and mobility analyses, impact assessment and developing and implementing risk-based clean-up and remediation activities is also required. The consultant will have to have an in-depth knowledge of the IFIs environmental and social requirements, the EBRD Performance Requirements would particularly be desirable.

The consultant's team should include the following Key Experts: