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Exploration & Production: The Oil & Gas Review 2005 - Issue 2 -
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The objective of the Hazardous Substances Strategy of the OSPAR Commission (the joint forum of the Oslo and Paris Commissions) is to prevent pollution of the maritime area by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances. The ultimate aim is to achieve concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made substances. The OSPAR Decision 2000/2 on a Harmonised Mandatory Control System (HMCS) has been in force for nearly five years and is now looking to set interim targets for reduction in use and discharge of chemicals.
After the 2004 elections, the European Commission (EC) approved new commissioners, which has opened the way for finalisation of its chemicals policy. The Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) system has the potential to significantly reduce the supply of substances for all speciality chemical products, including those used in the oil industry. This article reviews these and other environmental drivers that may affect the future use of chemicals for oilfield operations.
The Regulators OSPAR Commission
The OSPAR Convention is the current instrument guiding international co-operation on the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic. The work under the convention is managed by the OSPAR Commission, comprising representatives of the governments of 15 contracting parties, which applies the ecosystem approach to the management of human activities. The convention is divided into six strategies, one of which, the Hazardous Substances Strategy, sets the objective of preventing pollution of the maritime area. The commission is implementing this strategy progressively, with a target of the cessation of discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances by 2020.
Alongside the Hazardous Substances Strategy is the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Strategy. This has objectives of preventing and eliminating pollution and taking the necessary measures to protect the maritime area against the adverse effects of offshore activities to safeguard human health, conserve marine ecosystems and, when practicable, restore marine areas that have been adversely affected. To implement this strategy, the OSPAR Commission has adopted a number of decisions, recommendations and other agreements, which are discussed and agreed in the first instance by the Offshore Industry Committee (OIC).
European Commission
After successfully integrating the coal and steel industries of Western Europe in 1951, six Member States signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957, creating the European Economic Community (EEC) and forming a ‘common market’ by removing barriers to trade. In 1967, a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers and the European Parliament were formed. The Treaty of Maastricht (1992) introduced new forms of co-operation between the Member State governments, and the European Union (EU) was created.
Economic and political integration between the Member States of the EU has led to joint decisions on many matters, with common policies being developed in a very wide range of fields, including competition, the environment and trade. The need for environmental protection is now taken into account across the whole range of EU policies.
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Graham Payne is Executive Secretary
for the European Oilfield Speciality
Chemicals Association (EOSCA).
He has more than 35 years of
experience in oil and gas
exploration, production and refining
and marine process industry.
For the last 11 years, Mr Payne has
provided production chemistry
and corrosion engineering
services to these industries as
Director/Consultant for Briar
Technical Services. Prior to that, he
worked for nearly 15 years as a
production engineer for Conoco (UK)
Ltd, providing production chemistry
expertise for North Sea operations
and new developments. His previous
employments also include two
positions in Libya. Mr Payne is a
member of the Royal Society of
Chemistry and a chartered chemist,
and has a BSc from the
University of Exeter.
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