From the President: IADC Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee leads way to higher standards

There’s no doubt that the drilling industry is global. Drilling contractors who used to operate in just one region or one country might now operate in five or six countries, or even 10 to 20. Each country comes with its own unique set of laws and customs that the drilling contractor must comply with. It is no easy task to navigate these labyrinths alone.

That’s why IADC recently formed the Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee, headed by committee chairman Brady Long, Pride International’s chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel. The goal is to help drilling contractors better comply with anti-corruption laws through shared best practices.

POSITIVE RESPONSE

The committee held its inaugural meeting in late September, and response was overwhelmingly positive. It is clear that there’s a great desire among our members to have a better understanding of what governments around the world expect of them.

Traditionally, lawyers find law in statutes, cases, treaties and so forth. But when dealing with subjects of corruption and bribery, that information isn’t necessarily enough. Companies need to establish compliance programs, including policies and procedures, and there are few textbook answers for that.

There are a number of inter-industry professional conferences that discuss implementation of compliance programs for employees. However, as we all know, the drilling industry is very different from other industries. Advice that suits Lockheed Martin or Continental or Hewlett Packard may not work for the drilling industry.

With the Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee, IADC will provide an open forum specifically for drilling contractors. In this forum, they will be able to find out what their peers are doing and what they’re being advised to do. They will be able to discuss the types of anti-corruption programs that are in place and how procedures are being followed.

At the initial meeting in September, Brady put Pride’s anti-bribery compliance program on the table. He explained the efforts Pride has made, the challenges they faced and the solutions they found. An open discussion followed that allowed frank questions and answers on each component of Pride’s program.

Active participation from everyone proved that people had been seeking this information for some time; it had just never been presented in a convenient and efficient way. IADC hopes that through open conversations such as this, the committee will ultimately help the global drilling industry uphold its high standards of ethics and protect itself from legal risks.

All IADC drilling contractor members are welcome to join the committee and help the industry work toward a higher ethics standard. For more information on committee activities, please visit www.iadc.org.

The mission of the IADC Ethics and Corporate Compliance Committee is to foster understanding and compliance with US and international laws, including but not limited to laws pertaining to corruption, bribery and import/export. The committee will also promote the highest standards of ethics within the drilling industry by providing a forum for sharing strategies designed to promote ethical behavior. Through shared best practices, the committee will work to educate its members on developments in principles of ethics and applicable laws, as well as trends in enforcement.