Environmental risk of deep-sea E&P activities
IRIS Biomiljø is currently conducting an environmental effect and risk assessment project for the oil company consortium co-opering within the Norwegian Deepwater Programme (NDP). The project started in July 2003 and will be completed in 2007. Sintef Materials and Chemistry, Norway and SAMS (at Dunstaffnage Marin Laboratory in Oban, Scotland) are partners in the project. A post-doc study at Stavanger University financed by Total is co-ordinated with the project.
The overall objective is to develop an environmental effect and risk estimation methodology for impact assessment of deep-sea exploration and production activities. The methodolgy shall be related to the management needs of the oil and gas industry as it is currently approaching deeper offshore regions, and the activities shall focus on factors particular for the deep sea, especially the low temperature and the high pressure.
An initial literature study has extracted fate and ecotoxicity data from existing sources, and relevant environmental risk scenarios for deep sea were described. The progam is further divided into activities that focus on the following aspects that jointly contribute to fulfill the overall objective:
- Physical/chemical fate
- Bioavailability
- Biodegradation
- Valuable Ecological Components (VECs) & Target Resources
- Biological Uptake and Effects.
The project will be concluded with an evaluation study to identify and recommend the most suitable system for implementation of the developed deep sea risk assessment methodology.
The companies contributing to the project are:
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