Risk Assessment and Planning for Offshore Oil Spill Response Preparedness

Abstract

Following the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico (Macondo) oil spill and the Montara incident in Australia, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) formed the Global Industry Response Group. This Group identified nineteen oil spill response recommendations that are being addressed via an Oil Spill Response Joint Industry Project (OSR-JIP) during 2012-2014. The OSR-JIP is managed by IPIECA on behalf of OGP, in recognition of IPIECA’s long-standing experience with oil spill response matters One of the nineteen recommendations concerned the development of an international guideline for offshore oil spill risk assessment and a method to better relate oil spill response resources to that risk. This paper describes the development and content of the guideline, including how the oil spill risk assessment process provides structured and relevant information to oil spill response planning for offshore operations. The process starts by defining the context of the assessment and describing the activity to be assessed. Thereafter it addresses a series of key questions, such as: What can go wrong, leading to potential release of oil?What happens to the spilled oil?What are the impacts on key environmental - both ecological and socio-economic - receptors?What is the risk for environmental damage?How is the established risk utilised in oil spill response planning? The guideline draws on existing good practice in the determination of oil spill response resources. It promotes consideration, in tactical and logistical detail, of the preferred and viable response strategies to address scenarios covering the range of potential oil spills up to the most serious. The methodology to consider the scenarios follows a series of questions: What are the viable techniques/strategies to deliver response with greatest net environment benefit?What are the tactical measures required to implement the identified response strategies, considering technical, practical and safety factors?What Tiered resources are required to mount the tactical measures and achieve effective response? The paper sums up useful tools, key information and the necessary level of detail that are essential to perform an oil spill risk assessment and use this in oil spill response planning.