1. OIL POLLUTION IN THE NORTH SEA: The impact of governance measures over several decades
Dr Angela Carpenter
Visiting Researcher - University of Leeds
North Sea Conference , Ostend, November 2016

2. Outline of Presentation
Sources of Pollution
Shipping
Oil production
Legal framework for marine pollution management
International measures
North Sea measures
Monitoring bodies and examples of data
Bonn Agreement
Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Commission
European Maritime Safety Agency
National Case Studies
Conclusions

3. How much oil enters the North Sea?
Total oil input (103 tonners/year) to the North Sea – 1993 Estimate
More recent estimates of the total amount of oil entering the North Sea range from 15,000 to 60,000 tonnes per year

4. Ship-source oil pollution designations
Accidental spills – a tanker may sink, be involved in a collision, be grounded or have technical difficulties resulting in an oil leak at sea
Operational discharges – in some areas ships may discharge oil intentionally (and legally) as part of the operation of a ship.
Intentional (and operational) discharges are where the concentration of oil in water exceeds 15 parts per million - anything above this measure is visible on the sea surface as a slick or sheen
In the North Sea, operational discharges are not permitted as the North Sea is a Special Status Area under the MARPOL Convention while the Wadden Sea is a Particularly Sensitive Area under that convention

5. Projected ship density (number of ships) for 2020+
Anticipated total number of ships passing each line from both directions annually by 2020 (actual number for 2012 is shown in brackets).
Figures are based on assumed traffic levels 1.5 times those in 2012.
Source: ACCSEAS Project, Figure 2-5
KEY: traffic density in red; small dark spots = 2012 oil and gas platforms; purple areas = traffic separation scheme; and dark brown lines = network of shipping lanes based on present day traffic patterns.

6. Oil inputs from oil & gas installations
DW is seawater used for ballasting storage tanks which is discharged to sea when oil is loaded into those tanks
Cuttings are solid material removed from drilled rock together with any solids and liquids derived from any adherent drilling fluids
Produced Water (PW) is water that comes from the reservoir as a by-product of oil and gas extraction
DW is seawater used for ballasting the storage tanks of offshore installations which is discharged into the sea when oil is loaded into those tanks
organic phase drilling fluids (OPF) and the discharge of OPF-contaminated cuttings [17]. OPFs are fluids which are an emulsion of water and other additives in which the continuous phase is a water-immiscible organic fluid of animal, vegetable or mineral origin.
PW is water that comes from the reservoir as a by-product of oil and gas extraction
Cuttings are solid material removed from drilled rock plus any solids or liquids in drilling fluids

7. Legal Framework

8. International Marine Pollution Conventions
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted over 25 Conventions including, in the field of marine pollution:
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78)
International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties (INTERVENTION), 1969
International Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Dumping Convention - LDC), 1972
International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response & Co-operation (OPRC), 1990
Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000 (HNS Protocol)
International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships, 2001

9. North Sea Marine Pollution Legislation
Legislation in chronological order
Agreement for cooperation in dealing with pollution of the North Sea by Oil (Bonn Agreement), 1969
Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft (Oslo Convention), 1972
International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 1973 and its Protocols, 1978 (MARPOL 73/78)
Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-based Sources (Paris Convention), 1974
Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in Implementing Agreements on Maritime Safety and Protection of the Marine Environment (Paris MOU), 1982
Agreement for cooperation in dealing with pollution of the North Sea by Oil and other harmful substances (Bonn Agreement) – superseding 1969 Agreement, 1983
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention; superseding Oslo and Paris Conventions), 1992 (ratified 1998)
EU Directive 2000/59/EC on provision of Port Reception Facilities for ship-generated waste and cargo residues (entry into force 2002)

10. Monitoring Oil Pollution in the North Sea

11. Oil pollution monitoring bodies
Bonn Agreement Secretariat - administers requirements of the Bonn Agreement including maintaining an aerial surveillance programme to detect spillages of oil and other harmful substances that can affect the marine environment. Uses aircraft and, since 2004, satellite surveillance data.
The Oslo and Paris Commission - monitors oil discharges from the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea.
European Maritime Safety Agency: CleanSeaNet (CSN) service provides European satellite-based oil spill & vessel detection service; SafeSeaNet (SSN) service uses an automatic information system (AIS) to track ship movements and can help identify source of oil spill at sea.

12. Bonn Surveillance data - Oil Spills by zone
Belgium
Denmark
France
Germany
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden UK
Total
1990 65
130
362 26
180
763
1991 16 91 51
273 66 15
135
647
1992 60 27
202 98 6
191
719
1993 4 99
279
113
741
1994 82 10
122
283 80
147
736
1995 57 17 7
238 72
176
681
1996 42 13 5
121
247 93 21
108
650
1997 58 36 28
125
771 14 89
1181
1998 70 45
120
458 31 69
922
1999 61 74 22
118
450
884
2000 54 33 25
187 46 8 75
548
2001
114
266 64
676
2002 94 55
533
2003 47 53 23 9
2004 43 3
109
339
2005 71
263
2006 29 92
347
2007 37 85
319
2008
134 32 48 77
375
2009 34 30 19 38
200
2010
2011 40 20 24 18 50
216
2012
141
2013

13. Surveillance Data – all North Sea countries
Observed slicks are those that have been confirmed as mineral oil
Since 2004 satellite imagery has also been used to identify spills

14. Confirmed spills using satellite imagery & aerial surveillance
Year
Satellite imagery data
Aerial surveillance data
spills detected
confirmed mineral oil
% confirmed
confirmed mineral oil
% confirmed
2004
378 46
12.17
540
429
79.44
2005
399 28
7.02
386
257
66.58
2006
407 86
21.13
478
347
72.59
2007
280 43
15.36
459
319
69.50
2008
700 90
12.86
559
375
67.08
2009
247 42
17.00
414
177
42.75
2010
411 29
7.06
238
57.49
2011
422 25
5.92
389
206
52.96
2012
509 31
6.09
227
136
59.91
2013
631 24
3.80
333
140
42.04

15. OSPAR Data - Operational discharges from oil & gas installations
Between 1984 and 1999 the main source of oil discharges was via cuttings
Since the early 2000s, the main sources of oil inputs to the sea have been inputs via PW and DW
The quantity of oil (in tonnes) discharged in PW fell from 13,892 tonnes in 2001 to 3,990 tonnes in 2012 – down over 70%
The quantity in DW fell from tonnes in 2001 to 61.4 tonnes in 2012 – down approx. 80%

16. Accidental oil spills from oil and gas installations
Accidental oil spills from oil and gas installations fell by around one third between 2004 and 2012 (Source: OSPAR)
around 60% of all spills were in UK waters
less than 5% of total oil discharges entering the North Sea came from accidental spills from rigs

17. EMSA CleanSeaNet Data: Satellite Imaging of the North Sea (16. 04
Pale blue areas = 1-2 satellite images per month; darkest blue = more than 20 per month
Green squares = satellite detections; yellow = detections which were checked; red = confirmed detections
Source: Adapted from EMSA (2011)

18. Annual number of satellite detections for North Sea States & average number per image
Year
Country
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Totals by country*
Belgium
5 (0.06)
12 (0.09)
5 (0.05)
6 (0.06) 28
Denmark
62 (0.19)
131 (0.21)
92 (0.16)
86 (0.14) 1
372
Germany
59 (0.22)
117 (0.24)
61 (0.13)
50 (0.09) 2
289
Netherlands
80 (0.41)
189 (0.57)
121 (0.46)
109 (0.39)
501
Norway**
13 (0.15)
82 (0.21)
39 (0.10)
23 (0.07)
158
Sweden
99 (0.27)
178 (0.28)
121 (0.19)
48 (0.08) 9
455
UK**
142 (0.41)
241 (0.41)
185 (0.36)
136 (0.23) 14
718
*Totals by country are for the period to
** Includes detections from ships and oil installations
Average number of detections per image appears in brackets. As figures for 2011 are for 1 month only there is no average

19. Pollution Trends: Some National Case Studies

20. National Case Study: Belgian Waters
Oil slicks found in the Bonn surveillance area
From 1985, 28 maritime accidents in and around the waters of Belgium, mainly collisions, which resulted in accidental marine pollution by oil (23) or a significant risk thereof (5)
Operational slick distributions: Red – 1991 to 1998;
Green – 1999 to 2005; Blue – 2006 to 2013
Source: Schallier and Van Roy (2015)

21. National Case Study: Netherlands Waters
Radar identified spots (unidentified slicks, possibly pollution but substance unknown) per grid cell/hour – Dutch Continental Shelf
Within the Southern North Sea, chronic marine oil pollution was a highly significant issue, at least until sometime in the 1980s
Oil rates of stranded seabirds were exceptionally high in an international context
Chronic oil pollution (a mix of hydrocarbons entering the seas from shipping, offshore and coastal exploration and production and other sources) was a major problem
discharges from ships and leakages from platforms and rigs were the main culprits leading to seabird mortality and polluted shorelines in the Southern North Sea
The number of detected oil slicks per hour of surveillance has declined steadily since the early 1990s
shorelines are now normally clean and will be more or less clean throughout the year (ignoring some relatively minor pollution incidents)
the oil rates in stranded seabirds has declined significantly
Source: Camphuysen and Vollaard (2015)

22. National Case Study: Danish Waters
The sea area off Skagen (outlined) is a bottleneck for sea traffic between the Baltic and North Sea with thousands of ship movements every month including tankers
Source: Christensen & Carpenter (2015)

23. Spills from oil and gas installations in UK EEZ
A total of 601 accidental releases (oil or chemicals) were reported by offshore oil and gas installations operations in the open sea during 2014 – a 14.5% increase on the 2013 total
A total of 380 mineral oil releases from offshore oil and gas installations occurred in 2014; 339 in UK North Sea waters
This was the highest recorded number since 2000 and 101 more than the mean annual total of 279 releases reported between 2000 and 2013.
Estimated volumes of releases showed that 70% were less than 5 litres.
Source: ACOPS Annual Report Summary

24. Conclusions

25. Conclusions
The annual total number of oil spills in the North Sea have declined over more than two decades from all sources.
Legal measures at international, regional, EU and national levels mean that operational discharges from ships are strictly controlled.
From aerial surveillance data, the ratio of observed slicks by flight hours fell from 0.22 in 1999 to 0.04 in 2010 for the whole region.
The majority of identified slicks are quite small - between 1998 and 2010 around 80% were generally less than 1 m2 in size.
Tools to rapidly identify spills at sea and, confirm whether a spill is oil or not, identify ships in the region of a spill, and match a spill sample with oil from a potential ship source, should further drive down intentional, illegal pollution as the risk of being caught, prosecuted and fined has increased.
Accidental spills from ships are now very infrequent due to better ship designs and anti-collision measures in the region’s busy shipping lines.

26. Still room for action …
Some agreed discharges from oil installations are still permissible; these make up the main input in recent years.
ACOPS (2015) identifies that, of the accidental spills from production activities in the UK EEZ between 2000 & 2011, only 0.17% oil spills end with a fine.
Of 4,123 separate oil spills reported in the UK North Sea between 2000 & 2011, only 7 resulted in fines totalling £74,000.
The largest fines were £20,000 each in 2 cases, for spills of 28,000 tonnes and 6 tonnes of diesel respectively.
The ageing nature of oil production platforms in the region may lead to more accidents in the future … plus there is potential for discharges during decommissioning of platforms.

27. For further information please contact me at: