Oil & Gas: Incident management
How does Government ensure companies are prepared to deal with an oil spill?
Operators prepare and submit an Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (OPEP) to DECC as required under the appropriate regulations. Regulatory approvals and consents are withheld until the OPEP is approved.
As part of the regulatory process operators assess the worst case scenario in order to identify the required response capability.
DECC is the approving authority for offshore installation OPEPs. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is the competent UK authority in terms of counter pollution measures and response at sea, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) provides advice on environmental sensitivities which may be impacted as a result of any oil spill. Both MCA and JNCC are consulted as part of the OPEP review and regulatory approval process.
In the event of a significant oil spill event the operator, in accordance with its OPEP, would activate its emergency response centre to take appropriate actions to prevent further pollution and implement a response strategy. In the event that the offshore industry’s own national and international pollution response and clean up resources were insufficient to respond to a spill the MCA will implement the UK National Contingency Plan.
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Chart showing amount of Oil spilled (tonnes) in UK waters from Installations each year 1991 - 2009
Total oil spilled each year in UK waters from installations 1991 - 1999
| Year |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
| Total oil spilled (tonnes) |
192 |
225 |
224 |
174 |
84 |
127 |
866 |
137 |
120 |
Total oil spilled each year in UK waters from installations 2000 - 2009
| Year |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
| Total oil spilled (tonnes) |
524 |
94 |
96 |
113 |
75 |
75.18 |
26.63 |
62.65 |
37.28 |
50.93 |