Introducing a Risk Based Dynamic Oil Spill Response Regime for the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Response from Operators, Authorities and other Stakeholders

Abstract

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. Abstract By July 1 st , 2001, the Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO) completed a three-year R & D programme for development of a dynamic, risk based oil spill response regime for the entire Norwegian continental shelf, including coastal areas and the shoreline.The results from this programme are made available for operators, authorities, other stakeholders and the general public through the NOFO web site http://www.nofo.no. This web includes operational plans, documentation of methodology and analyses, as well as intuitive interfaces to databases, oil spill sensitivity maps and GIS tools.Significant effort has been made to train the personnel included in the oil spill response organisation. In this process, industry, authorities and local community personnel have been involved.The content of the web serves as reference and documentation for authority audits of fields and installations.An important area of use is for cost effective analysis and evaluation of oil spill response requirements for new developments and exploration drilling, as basis for consent applications.Comments and suggestions from audits and consent applications have been actively collected and organised through the first six months of operation of this new regime.Additionally, the response from industry users, stakeholders and the general public to this form of open and transparent information sharing has been invited and reviewed. This paper presents our experiences from these processes, along with our objectives for further development.