New EU Offshore Safety Laws Drafted
Offshore gas operators may soon face stringent regulations, it has emerged today, with the proposal of a new EU-wide law governing the regulation and safety obligations of offshore gas and oil producers.
The European Commission proposed the law to help avoid any possibility of a repeat of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, there is no legislation of its type in Europe to govern the safety aspects of gas and oil production, but if successful, the law would apply to every member state of the EU.
The new legislation was drafted today and covers an area of up to 370 kilometres from the coast, a massive increase on the currently mandated 22 kilometres. Companies will also be held liable for the entire cost of a clean-up operation should a spill or accident take place.
The Commission says the law has been drafted in response to an "unacceptably high" chance of a similar spill takin place within European waters.
"Today, most oil and gas in Europe is produced offshore, often in harsh geographical and geological conditions," Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said today. "Given our growing energy demand, we will need all the oil and gas from beneath our seas.
"But we need to prevent accidents like Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico from happening. Securing best industry practices in all our offshore operations is an indisputable must. Today's proposal is a crucial step forward towards safer offshore activities to the benefit of our citizens and our environment."
Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik further said that the European Commission had learnt a valuable lesson from the BP oil spill.
"We have learnt our lessons from last year's Deepwater Horizon accident. Today's proposed regulation will help us prevent such future crises from happening in all marine waters which fall under EU Member States' jurisdiction.
"This safety update is good news for the environment, but it's also good news for business which will be able to deploy its operations in a predictable framework. There is ample evidence from past accidents that prevention is better than cure."
The new legislation will cover every aspect of the oil and gas production process, from initial exploration right up to a platform or installation being removed. The new laws will also restrict member states from granting any gas or oil licences to companies if their financial or technological assets do not reach a mandated standard.
Companies will now be expected to provide as much information to the public as possible, and will be expected to have rigorous emergency plans in place. They will also be subjected to regular safety inspections from an independent national competent authority.
The Commission said that it hopes the legislation will be enacted by 2014, though it must first gain the support of member state governments and the European Parliament to be binding.