There's Oil In That There Water! - Impact of the OPPC 2005 Regulations; an Operator's Response

摘要

Significant changes have been made in environmental legislation in recent years; operators have to manage the application of the legislation across portfolios and be able to demonstrate compliance, a requirement of OSPAR 2005/5. One of the main issues faced is the retrospective application of new requirements on legacy equipment which may not be appropriate or simply cannot meet the new standards required. Conflicts between resource application in a timely manner for all installation activities are severe, balancing requirements from all areas of legislation with essential activity programmes and shutdown dates requires strict constraints to be applied. This paper focuses on one area of legislation, the overboard discharge of produced water from offshore installations. The introduction of The Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005 has had an impact on offshore operators resulting in a tightening of the requirements for the measurement, sampling and analysis of produced water discharged to the sea. Also included are provisions for fines and allowance trading. An overview of one operator's response to meet the requirements of these changes is the subject of this paper.