OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION: WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS AND DO THEY JUSTIFY LIMITATIONS ON ACCESS TO COASTAL WATERS?

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
R.P. Warren
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Assessment Procedure ◽  
Seismic Surveys ◽  
Oil And Gas Exploration ◽  
Direct Exposure ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil

A proposal to undertake exploration in the coastal waters adjacent to Sydney/Newcastle/Wollongong has brought strong protests on environmental grounds. This opposition is committed and the basis for it should be considered in the wider context of offshore exploration around Australia. Of the various activities involved in oil and gas exploration the potential impacts of marine seismic surveys and the likelihood of a blowout- related oil spill are those of greatest concern to the media and public.A review of the available literature shows the environmental effects of seismic surveys to be of little consequence provided non- explosive energy sources are used. The effects of an oil spill are heavily dependent on site conditions and the type of oil spilled.The literature shows that direct exposure to spilled oil is fatal to many marine species. However, the potential lethal effects are largely dependent on direct exposure and this declines with the weathering and degradation of the spill. Moreover, the risks of an oil spill occurring as a result of current transportation and handling of oil in coastal waters and points around Australia are much greater than would be presented by drilling an exploratory well.In considering the role of exploration as an assessment procedure rather than a land use it is possible to draw parallels between the conservation status of Australian coastal waters today and the onshore situation some 20 years ago. The offshore oil and gas exploration industry needs to take several measures if it is to avoid denial of access for exploration. These include clearly identifying the environmental effects of exploration as opposed to production, adopting industry- wide codes for environmental practice, and recording and disseminating the industry's environmental performance.

The Adaptation of Rural Residents to the Offshore Oil and Gas (Exploration Phase) Labour Force, Newfoundland and Labrador, 1981

1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (S1) ◽  
pp. 133-139
Author(s):  
Richard Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Oil And Gas Exploration ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Offshore Oil And Gas ◽  
Offshore Oil ◽  
Exploration Phase

In response to interest and concerns about the effect which oil industry development would have in the province of Newfoundland, a number of studies were initiated, including attempts to assess the impacts on rural residents. An analysis of the offshore labour force indicated that Newfoundland residents represented 60% of the offshore force; however, their participation was predominantly in the junior drilling, junior marine and junior service positions. The provincial workers differed from the non-resident workers on a number of factors. Also of interest, the 35% of the Newfoundland workers interviewed had come from water transport occupations and were attracted by the perceived advantages of work in the oil industry, while the 34% who had come from the fishing industry, cited financial insecurity and poor working conditions of the fishery as their reasons for changing jobs.

Offshore Oil Spill Incidents: Creating a Database in Brazil

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Patricia Maggi ◽  
Cláudia do Rosário Vaz Morgado ◽  
João Carlos Nóbrega de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Guanabara Bay ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Oil And Gas Exploration ◽  
Exploration And Production ◽  
Offshore Oil

ABSTRACT Brazil has performed an important role in the oil and gas industry mainly because its offshore E&P activities. The volume of oil produced in offshore fields had increased 88% in the last decade and correspond to more than 90% of national production. The maritime Exploration and Production (E&P) operations in Brazil started in the middle of the 1970's. In 1981 a law was promulgated to establish a compulsory environmental permit to many activities, including oil and gas exploration and production activities. Although this regulation has existed for over 25 years, only in 1999 was it effectively brought into force to the E&P sector, with the creation of the oil and gas specialized office integrated to the Intituto Brasileiro de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA (Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency). On January 2000 Brazil faced one its worst oil spills, in Guanabara Bay. A broken pipeline owned and operated by Petrobras spilt 1300 tone of bunker fuel into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. At that time, Brazil had no clear environmental scenario regarding the oil industry in Brazil: uncoordinated environmental regulations, debilitated environmental agencies and a relapse industry took part in the scenario. As a result of the repercussion of the disaster, in the same year was enacted the Federal Law 9966/2000, the so called “Oil Law”, on the prevention, control and inspection of pollution caused by the releasing of oil and other harmful substances in waters under national jurisdiction. The provisions of the Law 9966 included, among other things, the requirement for the notification to the competent environmental authority, the maritime authority and the oil regulating agency, of any incident which might cause water pollution. Although IBAMA receives the oil spill communications since 2001, only in 2010 the Agency began to include this information in a database. This paper discusses the offshore oil spill data received between 2010 and 2012.

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