The number of things that might go wrong with oil drilling could potentially fill a long list: internal hazards, spills and environmental disasters should all be on the minds of offshore project managers when they decide to start drilling or extracting (because it's also likely to be a concern for clients as well).
However, other manmade risks might emerge depending on the nature of your project that your business may need to contend with properly. For Russia, this involves activist groups that are upset by the country's drilling activities in the Arctic.
The BBC reports that the Prirazlomanya station, targeted by protestors who are now facing piracy charges, presents challenges because of its location. The article points out that both environmentalists and gas companies have concerns when it comes to safety aboard these rigs. While groups like Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund would like to prevent oil spills, those operating rigs need to worry about the threat that demonstrators might accidentally pose.
"By coming so close Greenpeace could have damaged the base of the platform," said Artur Akopov, manager of the Prirazlomnaya rig. "When they threw up their equipment they could easily have hit somebody. Or they might have ruptured one of the pressurized pipes and caused a diesel spill."
Beyond politics, this is an issue of proper legal procedure in sensitive areas of the world. If your company is looking to begin operations in a place not used to drills and other extraction equipment, then oilfield insurance will be even more necessary. But all industry players need to look into the protections that could cover them in any cases of disruption, accidental or not.