Governance of offshore oil and gas in the Arctic

Author(s):  
Cécile Pelaudeix ◽  
Ellen Margrethe Basse
Author(s):  
Igor Kochev ◽  
Wim Heijman

From an economic point of view, melting ice is making the Arctic ocean increasingly important for a number of countries – Arctic states as well as non-Arctic states. Also, the EU has clear interests in the area. This chapter provides a brief description of those interests and its implications on the EU's relationship with the Arctic partners. This note takes seven aspects of the EU-relations with the Arctic states into consideration (i.e., the institutional framework, the EU Arctic interests and policies, shipping, fishing, marine mammals, offshore oil and gas operations, and the EU's Arctic partners).


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 995
Author(s):  
Alexey Cherepovitsyn ◽  
Anna Tsvetkova ◽  
Nadejda Komendantova

In the face of today’s global challenges, oil and gas companies must define long-term priorities and opportunities in implementing complex Arctic offshore projects, taking into account environmental, economic, technological and social aspects. In this regard, ensuring strategic sustainability is the basis for long-term development. The aim of the study is to analyze existing approaches to the concept of “strategic sustainability” of an offshore Arctic oil and gas project and to develop a methodological approach to assessing the strategic sustainability of offshore oil and gas projects. In the theoretical part of the study, the approaches to defining strategic sustainability were reviewed, and their classification was completed, and the most appropriate definition of strategic sustainability for an offshore oil and gas project was chosen. The method of hierarchy analysis was used for strategic sustainability assessment. Specific criteria have been proposed to reflect the technical, geological, investment, social and environmental characteristics important to the offshore oil and gas project. The strategic sustainability of 5 offshore oil and gas projects was analyzed using an expert survey as part of the hierarchy analysis method. Recommendations were made on the development of an offshore project management system to facilitate the emergence of new criteria and improve the quality of the strategic sustainability assessment of offshore projects in the Arctic.


Author(s):  
Aleksandar-Saša Milaković ◽  
Mads Ulstein ◽  
Alexei Bambulyak ◽  
Sören Ehlers

Due to a constantly increasing global energy demand on one side, and depletion of available hydrocarbon resources on another, a continuous search for new reserves of hydrocarbons is required (BP Energy Outlook 2035 [1]). Having in mind that estimated 22% of the world’s undiscovered petroleum is located in the Arctic, 84% of which is projected to be offshore (US Geology Survey [2]), the Arctic becomes a logical region of activities expansion for the oil and gas industry. Opposing large expected quantities of hydrocarbons that are to be found in the Arctic, there are also numerous challenges that need to be overcome in order to make production economically feasible. One of the segments of offshore production process that is expected to be influenced by Arctic conditions is upstream supply chain, or chain of delivery of products and services that are necessary for unhindered operation of an offshore field. Within upstream supply chain, it is expected that the configuration of Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) fleet will be significantly affected by specific Arctic conditions, mainly by large distances to supply base as well as by environmental conditions. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify an optimal composition of OSV fleet taking into consideration specific Arctic conditions. A simulation model describes an upstream supply chain taking into consideration stochastic nature of environmental conditions in the Arctic. An optimization model is built on top of the simulation model in order to assess optimal configuration of the fleet with respect to operational costs. Simulation and optimization are run for a case of an offshore oil and gas field development in the Russian Arctic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarni Már Magnússon

Book review of: Rachael Lorna Johnstone, Offshore Oil and Gas Development in the Arctic under International Law: Risk and Responsibility (Leiden, Brill), 2015, ISBN 978-90-042693-30, hardbound.


Author(s):  
Catherine Redgwell ◽  
Efthymios Papastavridis

This chapter explains the technological development of TNPPs and considers the imminence of construction and deployment offshore. We demonstrate that while there are legal rules of potential application to TNPPs, these do not constitute a comprehensive legal regulation framework. Are existing rules fit for purpose? For example, the IMO has adapted existing regulations to address offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic (and Antarctic) in its ‘Polar Code’. . However, adapting existing legal rules may manifest pathway dependence mirroring the potential ‘technological lock-in’ of SMRs based on proven technology. The authors further observe that, just as climate change is characterized by polycentric governance, so too will questions of TNPP regulation cut across different fields of international law and different institutions—not just the IMO and IAEA.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document