THE VENEZUELAN NATIONAL OIL SPILL CONTINGENCY PLAN

1983 ◽  
Vol 1983 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-147
Author(s):  
Ian Achong ◽  
John Bennett ◽  
Chris Hatfield ◽  
Noel Boston

ABSTRACT A national contingency plan has been developed to contend with oil spills which may originate from offshore operations and tanker traffic in the waters off Venezuela from the Gulf of Venezuela to the Orinoco Delta. The plan was prepared for the Venezuelan oil industry which is made up of Petroleos de Venezuela, a holding company of the nationalized Venezuelan oil industry, and its affiliated companies, Lagoven S.A., Maraven S.A., Corpoven S.A., and Meneven S.A. The plan is based on an assessment of existing human and environmental material resources, the establishment of the operational capabilities of these resources, an overview of existing environmental data, and field programs which identified areas of special concern and filled environmental data gaps. Ideas and information were exchanged frequently between the contractors and representatives of the affiliated companies of Petroleos de Venezuela during the formulation of the plan. In the process of developing the national plan, an interim plan was prepared. The resulting final plan consists of a set of manuals with precise and detailed procedures to follow in case of a spill, an auxiliary set of manuals containing technical information to support the detailed instructions, and instructions on the implementation of the plan and training of personnel. An essential part is the production of 60 sensitivity charts describing the Venezuelan coast. The Venezuelan oil industry is in the privileged position of not only having a master national oil spill contingency plan but also having available the experience to carry out the plan due to everyday experience accumulated in cleanup operations on Lake Maracaibo. The Venezuelan National Oil Spill Contingency Plan is expected to serve as a model for future Caribbean plans.

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 145-159
Author(s):  
Robert A. Levine

Although the best method for handling an oil spill is to prevent its occurrence, the risk of a significant oil spill, from either a tank or other vessel, is always present. When a spill does occur, a good spill contingency plan will help to limit the adverse effects of the spill. This paper discusses the contents and development of Spill Contingency Plans, with emphasis on experience gained during the cleanup of the Port Angeles spill. Information pertinent to and details from ARCO Marine Inc.'s Spill Contingency Plan have been included to aid interested parties in their endeavors to develop suitable contingency plans.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
G. N. Keith

The incidence of oil spillage from offshore exploration and production activities is comparatively low but the Santa Barbara and Chevron blowouts remind us of what can happen.There are two things each operator can do to help ensure he is prepared in the event of an emergency. First, a comprehensive inhouse contingency plan should be prepared before commencing operations in an area. The plan will ensure that adequate first-aid measures are on hand at all times and will go on to list the location and availability of additional assistance both in equipment and manpower.Second, the operator should be prepared to participate in the oil industry's National Oil Spills Action Plan. This plan is designed to ensure that the entire resources of the industry can be made available and effectively co-ordinated to combat an oil spill anywhere on the coast of Australia.


1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
D.J. Blackmore

It is vital that there is a credible and well organised arrangement to deal with oil spills in Australia.The National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil, the umbrella oil spill response plan for Australia, is a combined effort by the Commonwealth and State Governments, the oil industry and the shipping industry.The Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC), formed in 1991, is an industry centre set up for rapid response with equipment and resources, together with a training and industry coordination role.A review of the National Plan in 1992, identified, amongst a number of issues, that the National Plan needed to be re-focussed, to ensure full integration of all government and industry activities for the first time. This has led to greatly improved understanding between government and industry and significant improvements to Australia's oil spill response preparedness. The National Plan review has also resulted in a clearer definition of the responsibilities for operational control, together with the organisational structure to deliver a successful response.The current state of Australia's National Plan is such that it does provide confidence that there is the capacity to deliver an effective response to oil spills in the marine environment. Nevertheless, there is more to be done, particularly in the areas of planning and exercises.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-438
Author(s):  
TERESA SABOL SPEZIO

AbstractIn the face of technology failures in preventing oil from reaching beaches and coasts after catastrophic oil spills in the 1960s and early 1970s, the oil industry and governmental officials needed to quickly reconsider their idea of prevention. Initially, prevention meant stopping spilled oil from coating beaches and coasts. Exploring the presentations at three oil-spill conferences in 1969, 1971 and 1973, this idea of prevention changed as the technological optimism of finding effective methods met the realities of oil-spill cleanup. By 1973, prevention meant stopping oil spills before they happened. This rapid policy transformation came about because the oil industry could not hide the visual evidence of the source of their technology failures. In this century, as policymakers confront invisible pollutants such as pesticides and greenhouse gases, considering ways to visually show the source of the pollution along with the effects could quicken policy decisions.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 956-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erich R. Gundlach ◽  
Hugo A. Rizzato ◽  
Enrique Nastri ◽  
Aldo Murut

ABSTRACT As part of a concurrent wave of environmental awareness and restructuring of the oil industry in Argentina, the Secretariat of Energy, building upon an initial study by the Argentine Petroleum Institute, has developed several new regulations and guidelines designed to protect the environment. Exploration, development, and production of oilfields are now subject to new environment controls and the format and content of environment impact analyses, and oil spill contingency plans are defined. Offshore regulations are expected in 1994195.


1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne O. Wiebe ◽  
Paul Wotherspoon

ABSTRACT The oil industry's ability to effectively contain and clean up oil spills has been questioned over the years, and recent events have heightened this concern. Growing public interest and efforts by the upstream oil industry in Canada to assess its operations resulted in formation of the Task Force on Oil Spill Preparedness. The study was sponsored by the Canadian Petroleum Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada, which represent most companies in the upstream industry. The overall evaluation concentrates on both onshore and offshore activities, but this paper discusses only the onshore segment. In the past 40 years the industry has made substantial efforts to prevent oil spills. As a result, Canada has experienced no catastrophic oil spills in operating about 40,000 producing wells and 37,000 km of oil pipelines. In spite of these efforts, the industry believes there is room for improvement. The study recommends allocating more resources to improving equipment, training on-site personnel, establishing better communications within companies and between companies and regulatory agencies, and continuing research in oil spill countermeasures. These recommendations are being incorporated in the existing framework to improve the response capability of the upstream oil industry.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 (1) ◽  
pp. 503-508
Author(s):  
Hussein Bin Rahmat ◽  
Mohd Radzuan Bin Yusof

ABSTRACT The increasing incidence of oil spills in the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea has resulted in growing concern about Malaysia's capability to respond to oil spills in its waters. This concern is compounded by the ever-growing number of oil tankers plying the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea, as well as the intensifying exploration and development of offshore petroleum resources. Various measures were taken by the government to deal with the problem, including a review of its National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) and incorporating a coordinated and a cost-effective response mechanism among the various government agencies. The incorporation of the Petroleum Industry of Malaysia Mutual Aid Group (PIMMAG), which enables the oil industry to pool its oil spill response resources, reflects the industry's commitment to strengthen the NOSCP. Since the mid 1970s, a number of regional plans have been instituted including the Traffic Separation Scheme for the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund, the Lombok-Macassar Oil Spill Contingency Plan, the Brunei Bay Oil Spill Contingency Plan, the ASEAN Oil Spill Response Plan, and the proposed ASCOPE Oil Spill Contingency Plan.


1985 ◽  
Vol 1985 (1) ◽  
pp. 631-634
Author(s):  
Carlos Sordelli ◽  
Nelson Garcia

ABSTRACT This paper describes the development of an oil spill training program for the Venezuelan National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. The courses in the program will be offered to the different personnel levels of the Venezuelan oil industry which will be assigned to the national, regional, and local response teams. Training details will vary with the type of oil installation (drilling platform, refinery, terminal, etc.), the geographical location (Lake Maracaibo, mangroves, coral islands, etc.), the type of organization (regional, local, etc.), and the level of the personnel involved (supervisory, operational, etc.). The course objective will be to train 200 individuals a year from the Venezuelan oil industry, and will be open to other non-industry organizations with involvement in the National Contingency Plan (such as the armed forces, and transportation and environmental agencies). The program emphasizes practical hands-on training using the containment, cleanup, and dispersant applications equipment acquired for the national plan. The courses also will give the participants practical experience in other pertinent aspects such as: legal, organizational, reporting, and use of decision support aids available to the plan. The program also includes at the end of the year an exercise/drill which will be hosted by the regional areas in order to review the previous instructions and/or detect operational problems in the current national plan.


1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5
Author(s):  
O. Khalimonov ◽  
S. Nunuparov

ABSTRACT International and domestic experience in the response to major oil spills at sea confirms the vital necessity of a national contingency plan to guarantee effective utilization of national resources and those of assisting countries and organizations. Experience in responding to recent major oil spills underlines deficiencies connected with the shortage of technical means and also with ineffective organization of the response and cooperation of all parties involved. This results in unjustifiable delays in decision making and, finally, in catastrophic damages to the environment. The main principles of the U.S.S.R. national oil spill response plan, currently under consideration for approval, are as follows:involvement of a wide range of national forces and forces of the neighboring countries under preliminary agreed-upon schemes;strengthening and development of appropriate legal instruments to stipulate obligations of the parties involved in pollution response operations;development of a mechanism to reduce impediments to financial, technical, and related agreements required prior to commencement of operations (sources of finances, preliminary approval of the response technology by competent authorities, facilitation of custom procedures);unification of the structure of the U.S.S.R national contingency plan with a view to making it compatible with corresponding plans of neighboring countries following the prototype developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO);cooperation in the establishment of the international monitoring system, data bank, and computerized exchange of information.


1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Ken Matsumoto

ABSTRACT There are many ways to evaluate the overall performance of an oil spill response operation. There is, or there should be, however, a common standpoint for looking at such operations, irrespective of the size of the spill. Lessons learned through an incident, however trivial, can provide valuable clues to the future improvement of the operation in refineries and oil terminals. But the number of incidents at one location is too few to stand the test of analysis. Evaluation by a variety of methods is now possible based on information and data available through the worldwide news and reporting networks. This paper presents a guideline, which is widely accepted by the Japanese oil industry, for evaluating responses to oil spills, and introduces a concise equation based on the rating of many response elements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document