EU demands safer offshore drilling
The likelihood of a major accident in European waters remains unacceptably high, the European Commission argues in a new draft law on offshore drilling.
One day ahead of his visit to Norway, Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger presented a new draft EU law on the strengthening of security in offshore oil and gas projects.
“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, Commissioner Oettinger says in a press release.
Much of the European gas and oil is produced under harsh geographical and geological conditions, and conditions get increasingly tough as the oil industry moves further north into Arctic waters.
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Oettinger maintains that “the likelihood of a major offshore accident in European waters remains unacceptably high”, and argues that the new law will help European producers adopt “the world’s highest safety, health and environmental standards everywhere in the EU”.
Norway covers about 20 percent of consumption in the 27 European Union members, while the EU countries themselves meet only about 30 percent of their gas requirements from domestic production. Although not a member of the EU, Norway is committed to adopt most of the union’s legislation as part of the EEA Agreement. That is likely to include also the new law on offshore drilling. In Friday’s meeting with Commissioner Oettinger, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe did, not surprisingly, express skepticism with the new bill. –Norway is from before world-leading within the field of health, environment and security in the petroleum sector, Borten Moe told the commissioner, a press release from his ministry reads.
Among the proposals presented in the bill is a high level of corporate responsibility for accidents. Oil and gas companies will be fully liable for environmental damages caused to the protected marine species and natural habitat. For damage to waters, the geographical zone will be extended to cover all EU marine waters including the exclusive economic zone (up to about 370 km from the coast) and the continental shelf where the coastal Member State exercises jurisdiction. For water damage, the present EU legal framework for environmental liability is restricted to territorial waters (about 22 km offshore), the Commission informs.
