Agenda Item 3
SEBA 99/3/2-E
Original: English
English only
OSPAR CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF THE
NORTH-EAST ATLANTIC
WORKING GROUP ON SEA-BASED ACTIVITIES (SEBA)
HAMBURG: 15 – 19 FEBRUARY 1999
______________________________________________________________________________
Comments to be considered on the development of an
OSPAR Strategy with regard to Offshore Oil and Gas Industry
Presented by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF)
Background
1.
According to the work programme for 1998/1999, SEBA will examine proposals to be taken
into account in the preparation of a draft OSPAR Strategy with regard to the Offshore Oil and Gas
Industry.
2.
In this context, SEBA will be invited to examine a proposal from the lead country UK and to
discuss this proposal in the light of information/comments submitted by other Contracting Parties
and observer organisations.
3.
For this purpose, WWF has prepared the following:
a.
a list of key recommendations (cf. Annex 1, paragraphs 1 - 4 and 9 - 13);
b.
a description of the framework for offshore oil and gas development (cf. Annex 1,
paragraphs 10 - 13);
c.
an overview of assessments and commitments (1984 – 1995) with regard to North Sea
oil and gas impacts (cf. Annex 2).
Action requested
4.
SEBA is invited to consider the attached WWF’s comments and information.
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Annex 1
Comments to be considered on the development of an
OSPAR Strategy with regard to Offshore Oil and Gas Industry
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
An OSPAR Offshore Oil & Gas Strategy should include specific reference to the elements
which will form a framework for offshore oil & gas development, including strategic environmental
assessment, precautionary principle, no-exploitation areas, environmental impact assessment, consultation,
transparency, application of best practice, zero discharge philosophy, environmental monitoring and
evaluation, polluter pays principle, environmental restoration and recovery.
2.
An OSPAR Offshore Oil & Gas Strategy should encompass exploration and development
activities, production and emissions, decommissioning and environmental restoration and recovery.
3.
The OSPAR Offshore Oil & Gas Strategy should build on the concerns expressed in
international accepted scientific assessments e.g. the 1993 North Sea Quality Status Report and the
commitments already given in relevant international agreements e.g. North Sea Ministerial Conferences
(see Annex), previous OSPAR Decisions, the Joint Chairs Conclusions from the 1997 International Experts
Noordwijk Meeting.
4.
In keeping with other OSPAR Strategies agreed in 1998, the Offshore Oil & Gas Strategy should
contain clear targets with timetables by which they should be achieved.
A FRAMEWORK FOR OFFSHORE OIL & GAS DEVELOPMENT
5.
Over a number of years, WWF, along with other environmental groups, has developed a framework to
be applied to the development of offshore activities including the offshore oil and gas industry. The
framework encompasses well known principles that have been adopted in many countries.
6.
The framework encompasses the following elements, which WWF believes should all be incorporated
within an OSPAR Offshore Oil & Gas Strategy:
a.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
b.
Precautionary Principle
c.
Identification of no-exploitation areas
d.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
i)
full project / programme level
ii)
individual activity level
e.
Consultation / Transparency
f.
Application of best practice (via regulatory controls)
i)
development
ii)
disposal of wastes / decommissioning
g.
Zero discharge philosophy
h.
Monitoring / Evaluation - including the use of pollutant emission registers
i.
Polluter Pays Principle
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j.
Environmental restoration and recovery
7.
Many of the areas of such a framework were addressed with respect to the offshore oil and gas
industry at an International Experts meeting on Offshore Oil & Gas, hosted by The Netherlands and
Brazilian Government in Noordwijk, November 1997. The final report of this meeting is a useful reference
document.
8.
WWF has published a number of reports which address aspects of the framework outlined above and
which review experience from a range of countries. Copies of the following reports are available from WWF
on request:
a.
The Application of Strategic Environmental Assessment in Relation to Offshore Oil and Gas
Resource Exploration, (Berry Marine Consultants, Oct 1997)
b.
The Application of Environmental Impact Assessment in Relation to Offshore Oil and Gas
Exploration, (Berry Marine Consultants, Oct 1997)
c.
Environmental Best Practice and the Move Towards Zero Discharge in the Offshore Oil and
Gas Industry, (Berry Marine Consultants, Oct 1997)
d.
Public Reporting of Chemicals Used in the Offshore Exploration and Production of Oil and
Gas in the UK, (Laurent K Granier, Oct 1997)
[Copies of these reports will be available from WWF at the SEBA 99 meeting.]
9.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should be undertaken prior to licensing for oil & gas
exploration and development. SEA involves an assessment of the potential environmental impact of oil &
gas exploration, production, transportation and decommissioning. It should be undertaken according to
biology, geology and physical processes.
10. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) should be prepared for each application for an
exploration of production activity, taking into account effects / impacts beyond the area of direct interest,
including impacts on migratory species, the cumulative impacts of other projects in the same area and the
potential impacts of future projects.
11. No-exploitation Areas on account of their high conservation value, for example, due to biodiversity,
productivity, critical habitats or rare and threatened species, and that are particularly sensitive to or at risk
from oil & gas developments, including exploration should be identified.
12. Technical developments towards a zero discharge philosophy, in accordance with the precautionary
approach, should be encouraged, applied and enforced, for example, by regularly reviewing and
strengthening of licensing requirements. Waste production should be reduced and wastes should be recycled
in accordance with generally accepted principles of waste management. Breaches should be rigorously and
routinely prosecuted, and appropriately sever penalties imposed.
13. All uses of chemicals and oils and all emissions should be monitored. The results should be made
publicly available via national and / or international pollution registers. Information on the
ecotoxicological properties of chemicals and oils in use should be available for public scrutiny.
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Annex 2
North Sea Offshore Oil & Gas Impacts Assessments and Commitments 1984 - 1995
1984
Declaration of the International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea,
Bremen
“Oil pollution from platforms will be prevented by application of the best available technology
and subject to considerations of the guiding discharge values agreed to. A responsible person
should be appointed on every platform to monitor the pollution prevention equipment.”
H
Measures to prevent or reduce oil pollution from platforms
H1
Any technical equipment to explore and exploit petroleum and natural gas in the North Sea
including transportation pipelines should be constructed and operated in conformity with the best
available technology.
H2
Insofar as for the lack of other solutions the necessity arises for improvement on existing platforms
of important equipment necessary for controlling pollution on the sea, such improvement should be
carried out as soon as possible; this should in principle be completed within a period of three years.
H3
Contracting parties to the Paris Convention should inform the Paris Commission of the
improvements achieved.
H4
Permits issued for the exploration and exploitation of petroleum and natural gas deposits or any
other administrative acts harmonised with such permits as to the material contents and the time
frame should include requirements to prevent, on the basis of the best available technology, marine
pollution through technical and organisational measures to the greatest possible extent.
H5
Marine pollution by drilling muds and drill cuttings should be avoided or prevented to the greatest
possible extent in accordance with Annex (10).
H6
Oily waste waters will be prevented as far as possible by application of the best available technology
and subject, to consideration of guiding values in accordance with Annex (11).
H7
Precautionary measures for emergencies/accidents should be taken through detailed plans according
to Annex (12).
H8
Special events on platforms will be reported in accordance with Annex (13) in order to keep hazards
to the marine environment owing to oil pollution as limited as possible.
H9
Companies should appoint a responsible person on every platform for the task of monitoring the
operational requirements designed to protect the environment. This person should have the
necessary knowledge and experience; a professional environmental officer should be appointed for
companies with extensive activities in the North Sea.
H10
Supervision of platforms and pipelines should be carried out by national authorities in accordance
with Annex (14).
H11
A regular exchange covering data on the amount of oil spilt into the North Sea during the
exploration and exploitation of petroleum and natural gas, including the reasons for this, as well as
the expected amounts of oil discharged into the North Sea should be intensified, in particular within
the Paris Commission and in the framework of the Bonn Agreement, aiming at further improvement
in the protection of the North Sea.
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1987
Second International Conference on the Protection of the North Sea, London
Ministerial Declaration
Pollution from Offshore Installations
34.
invite the Paris Commission to consider and, if necessary, to tighten the criteria for the use of oil
based muds;
35.
invite the Paris Commission, in order to reduce the environmental impact of discharged cuttings, to
establish strict standards to reduce their oil content, based on: (a) the optimal use of the best
available solids control and cuttings cleaning technology; (b) the uses of new mud formulations
which of themselves will reduce residual oil on cuttings; (c) new drilling techniques to reduce the
quantity of oil contaminated cuttings; or combinations of ‘a’, ‘b’ and ‘c’ above;
36.
prohibit or strictly limit the discharge by offshore industry of chemicals with a potential risk for the
marine environment by applying specific criteria, to be agreed upon by the Paris Commission or in
other appropriate fora;
37.
welcome the enhanced cooperation on airborne surveillance proposed in paragraphs 46 - 50, and call
on the Paris Commission to consider discrepancies between data on accidental spills reported by
operators and those from airborne surveillance;
38.
encourage the Paris Commission to continue its work on the improvement of monitoring and
reporting programmes, the introduction of cleaner technologies and the strengthening of standards
and control systems;
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1990
28.
Ministerial Declaration of the Third International Conference on the Protection of
the North Sea, The Hague
To further reduce operational discharges from offshore installations and to this end:
28.1
to eliminate, if necessary by steps, the pollution caused by oil contaminated cuttings and to
this end:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
to develop national action plans before 1991, aiming at prohibiting discharges of oil
contaminated cuttings and to present these plans to the Paris Commission in 1991;
to request the Paris Commission to co-ordinate this work and to work out criteria
for the definition of oil contaminated cuttings in accordance with Annex 3A;
to prohibit discharges of all oil contaminated cuttings from exploration and
appraisal wells by 1994; and
to request the Paris Commission to decide not later than 1992, based on the outcome
of their work as laid out in Annex 3A, on a practical and achievable date for
prohibiting the discharge of all oil contaminated cuttings;
28.2
to request the Paris Commission to continue its investigation on the oil content of
production water and displacement water of existing and new offshore installations with a
view to indicating whether a 30 ppm oil content of discharges is technically feasible and to
report before 1992 to the meeting of the Oslo and Paris Commission at ministerial level in
1992; and
28.3
to request the Paris Commission to develop and adopt a harmonized mandatory control
system for the discharge and use of chemicals offshore and related measures, in accordance
with Annex 3B.
29.
To take initiatives towards the further improvement of safety and reduction of the risk of calamities
involving offshore installations, of the management or risks to the marine environment arising from
offshore activities and accidents and to request the Paris Commission to assess, on the basis of
information available from national offshore safety authorities and from the North Sea Offshore
Authorities Forum, the risks such accidents pose to the marine environment.
30.
To agree that specific conditions in the North Sea require specific safeguards on order to protect the
marine environment from the disposal of installations or parts thereof and to this end to invite the
Oslo Commission to continue its work in developing guidelines with the aim of ensuring that
offshore installations are disposed of in an environmentally satisfactory manner.
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1993
4.6
1993
Statement of Conclusions from the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting, Copenhagen
to INVITE the Oslo and Paris Commissions to consider and develop measures to make significant
reductions of anthropogenic inputs of the order of 50% or more between 1985 and 2000 from all
sources of PAHs of concern to the marine environment; but
(i)
for the States, that cannot at present establish figures for the 1985 situation to urge them to
establish before 1995 the necessary basis for making decisions at 4NSC on reduction targets
to be achieved by 2000; and
(ii)
to REQUEST the Oslo and Paris Commissions to undertake an appraisal of the significance
of and the possibilities to reduce emissions of PAHs from offshore installations; and
North Sea Quality Status Report, 1993 : Conclusions
“The offshore oil and gas industry is a substantial source of petroleum hydrocarbon inputs.
Although large quantities of production water are discharged, the concentrations of oil are low, and
this source is regarded as being less of a problem than drill cuttings and inefficient flaring
operations. Drill cuttings cause contamination of the sea bed and detectable effects on the benthos
around the platforms. Oil-derived compounds have been identified in fish well away from the
platforms and in a few cases have caused oil taint in flatfish. Visible oil slicks may arise from
flaring and cause the death of seabirds. The offshore industry also uses a wide range of chemicals,
but the quantities discharged are uncertain. Despite claims that, in may cases, the use of chemicals
does not lead to significant discharges, the detection of elevated levels of contaminants downcurrent
of platforms demonstrates that this is not the case.”
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1995
VI.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth International Conference on the Protection
of the North Sea
The Prevention of Pollution from Offshore Installations
The Ministers NOTE with satisfaction that considerable progress has been made to implement the
call from the Hague Declaration:
i)
in the reduction of discharges of oil with cuttings where PARCOM Decision 92/2 on the
Use of Oil Based Muds (OBM) has played a significant role, further improvements may be
expected from the full implementation of that Decision in 1996; and
ii)
in the development within OSPAR, of a harmonised mandatory control system for the
offshore use and discharge of chemicals, as a result of a constructive cooperation between
governments and industry in the development of the Chemical Hazard Assessment and Risk
Management (CHARM) project.
The Ministers RECALL the 1993 QSR conclusions that:
i)
oil (from cuttings, produced water, flaring operations, and leaks in existing installations)
and its effects on fish is still a matter of concern, and that reduction efforts should be
continued; and
ii)
the offshore industry also uses a wide range of chemicals, and that the quantities discharged
are uncertain. Despite claims that, in many cases, the use of chemicals does not lead to
significant discharges, the detection of elevated levels of contaminants down-current of
platforms demonstrates that this is not the case.
The Ministers REALIZE that pollution caused by discharges from offshore installations still have
effects on the marine environment in the view of:
i)
remaining discharges of oil contaminated cuttings, especially where oil based muds are still
used;
ii)
the large amounts and expected increase in discharges of produced water containing oil,
chemicals and heavy metals, with emission standards applicable for aliphatic oil
components only; and
iii)
the large amount of chemicals used and discharged offshore.
The Ministers therefore CALL upon oil and gas companies involved in the North Sea:
i)
to develop and implement effective environmental management systems in order to protect
the marine environment; and
ii)
to further develop and to put into use environmentally sound techniques in order to
eliminate the cases where alternatives to oil based muds are not available.
The Ministers also AGREE to invite OSPAR:
i)
to investigate further the extent and effects of pollution caused by produced water, and to
develop further the descriptions of BAT and BEP by reviewing PARCOM Recommendation
92/6;
ii)
to aim at minimizing, and to investigate the need for, and the possibilities of, a stabilisation
or a reduction of, the pollution caused by produced water as part of that review;
iii)
to ban the discharge of oil contaminated cuttings into the maritime area by the year 1997; in
exceptional cases, where the use of OBM is necessary strictly for safety or geological
reasons, the discharge of oil contaminated cuttings can be allowed of this discharge is
consistent with PARCOM Decision 92/2;
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54.
iv)
to investigate the environmental impact from, the need for and possible means of cleaning
up seabeds contaminated by oily cuttings;
v)
to adopt a Harmonized Mandatory Control System (HMCS) for the use and discharge of
chemicals offshore, if possible at OSPAR 1996, taking account of the CHARM model and
its related developments, including identifying the substances and preparations currently
being used offshore, collecting, compiling, and making available to the national authorities
data and relevant information of these substances and establishing a program for the
screening and prioritization of such substances and preparations under the new control
system in the light of the quantities used and their intrinsic hazard. This should also address
the aim of substitution by non-hazardous chemicals where these are available; and
vi)
to continue to investigate the extent and effects of pollution caused by chemicals used and
discharged offshore and to keep the HMCS under review in the light of this investigation.
The Ministers are AWARE that an increasing number of offshore installations in the North Sea are
approaching the time of their decommissioning. Even if the offshore installations are emptied for
noxious and hazardous materials, they might still if dumped or left at sea, pose a threat to the marine
environment. Disposal of such installations on land by recycling recyclable materials and by
ensuring safe and controlled disposal of unavoidable residues would be in accordance with generally
agreed principles of waste management policy.
The Ministers AGREE that more environmentally acceptable and controllable land-based solutions
are preferable and in furthering a precautionary approach the Ministers AGREE:
i)
that decommissioned offshore installations shall either be reused or be disposed of on land;
ii)
to invite OSPAR to implement this agreement by 1997; and
iii)
to also take concerted action within the London Convention 1972 with the aim that the
revised Convention would require the disposal on land of decommissioned offshore
installations.
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