The EU commission anticipates a new regulation of the activity of the offshore industry



The EU commission has proposed today a new regulation of the activity of the offshore industry and meanwhile it has proposed that the EU joins to the protocol of the Convention of Barcelona for the protection of the Mediterranean from the coming pollution from activity of prospecting and offshore production. Objective of the normative proposal is to introduce a rigorous regime of safety that allows to reduce lessened the risk that happens an offshore incident in European waters.

The new project of regulations establishes precise norms for the entire cycle of the activities of prospecting and production, beginning from the project of an extraction plant of oil or gas until its dismantling.

The Commission has explained that, under the control of the national authorities of regulation, the European industry will have periodically to estimate and to improve the safety regulations for the operations offshore and that this new approach will lead to an European appraisal of the continuously updated risk, as will hold account of the new technologies and acquaintances and the new risks. The norm will introduce moreover requisitioned for an effective prevention and an effective answer in case of serious incidents.

The proposal previews that for the release of the licences the competent authority of the European States must guarantee that only operators with sufficient technical capabilities and financial institutions, necessary to the control of safety of the offshore activities and to the environmental protection, are authorized to complete activity of prospecting and hydrocarbon production in waters of the EU. Moreover the technical solutions introduced by the operator, of critical importance for safety of the system, will have to be verified from a third independent part, are before the entrance according to the system that successively at intervals regular.

A programming of obligatory emergency is previewed also ex ante. Before being able to give to start to the activities of prospecting or production, in fact, the enterprises will have to prepare a relation on the main risks that a plan and risk assessment will contain of answer to the emergencies. The relations will have to be subordinates for approval to the national authorities that, if satisfied, will give their approval. The competent national authorities and independent responsibles for safety of the systems will in existence verify the dispositions to safeguard of the health and the atmosphere and the ability to reaction to the emergencies of the drilling rigs and the oil platforms, let alone the activities lead there. If an operator will not respect the minimal norms of safety, the competent authority will undertake coercive actions and/or endorsements comminerà or, as ultima ratio, will impose the operator to interrupt the drillings or the activities of production if it does not comply to the dispositions.

In the picture of the answer to the emergencies, the enterprises will be held beginning from to prepare of the plans the risk assessment of their drilling rigs and their platforms, making sure of having on hand the necessary resources for an participation in case of need. The Member States, to they time, will take in consideration in the details the plans of the companies to the moment to compile the national plans of answer to the emergencies. The industries of the field and the national authorities will subject to verification at intervals regular plans.

The proposal previews that the enterprises of the field of the oil and the gas must be entirely responsible for the environmental damages on the protected marine species and the natural habitats. In case of damages to waters, the geographic zone will be extended until to cover all the waters of the EU enclosed the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Member States (until about 370 kilometers from the coast) and the continental platform subject to the jurisdiction of the coastal Member States. The Commission has remembered that the current communitarian normative picture previews that the environmental responsibility for the damages to waters is limited to territorial waters (about 22 kilometers from the coast).

The proposed new of the EU commission at last previews the constitution of a group of the offshore authorities of the EU formed from coming inspectors from the Member States that they will cooperate to the aim to assure a effective sharing of the good practical and an improvement of the safety regulations, let alone to increase the transparency putting on of the city comparable information on the level of efficiency of the enterprises and on the activities of the competent national authorities through information that will be published on the their respective websites.

The EU commission has proposed also the adhesion of the European Union to the protocol of the convention of Barcelona for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea, protocol that demands a series conditions for satisfying before to allow the start of offshore activity. In particular, the construction of platforms and systems must be in compliance with the norms and practical international and the operators must demonstrate to the technical capability and financial institution in order to carry out these activities. Moreover localization of the platforms and the systems must assure that the existing pipelines and the cables cannot be damaged. The protocol includes also it obligation of responsibility and compensation of the damages.

"Today - the European commissioner for the Energy has commented, Günther Oettinger - the majority of the hydrocarbon production in Europe is carried out offshore, often in very difficult geographic and geologic conditions. Seen the always increasing energy demand, we will have to appeal to all reserves of gas and oil that giacciono in our seabeds. We must but avoid that catastrophes as that of the platform are repeated Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. It is imperative to guarantee that the industry of the field operates best the practical ones second. The today's proposal represents a decisive step in order to guarantee surer operations offshore, to advantage of our citizens and the atmosphere".

"We have drawn important lessons from the incident of the Deepwater Horizon of last year - has declared the European commissioner for the Atmosphere, Janez Potocnik - and the project of today's regulations will help us to prevent that in future crises of this capacity in all happen the marine waters subject to the jurisdiction of the Member States. This update in safety matter represents a good news for the atmosphere but also for the industry, that it will be able to clearly carry out own activities in a normative picture more. The last incidents have demonstrated to us clearly that the prevention is better of the cure".