March 1998 Vol. 219 No. 3  Offshore

Robert E. Snyder,  Editor

The year of the ocean, and other news

The U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service's publication MMS Today recently featured an article titled "The year of the ocean and the agency's role." It noted that the United Nations has declared 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean, with the catchy acronym "YOTO." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) public affairs office, along with such offices in other federal agencies, will launch a public outreach campaign to enhance the government's role in "monitoring, researching and sustaining our ocean resources."

MMS will take an active role in the YOTO campaign; and Director Cynthia Quarterman has been asked to serve as one of four federal reps on the U.S. YOTO steering committee. She says, "As we enter 1998, we will highlight objectives and goals in our education and outreach efforts. Working with NOAA is natural since they manage the living resources of the ocean and we manage the mineral resources."

One of the agency's goals is to ensure safe, pollution-free operations during the production of gas and oil from the OCS. MMS accomplishes this through a strong regulatory program while supporting offshore safety, blowout prevention, oil spill containment and cleanup.

A common misconception is that one of the major causes of ocean pollution is offshore oil spills, yet these spills contribute only a small percentage to the environmental problems. Domestically, the OCS produces about one million barrels of oil per day, and since 1980, less than 0.001% of that was spilled.

Following a discussion of the oceans' importance, marine mammal studies, the new deepwater and Arctic offshore frontiers and how oceans affect our daily lives — even those of you in interior areas, where royalty money is invested in national parks — the article emphasizes the importance of the oceans' petroleum resources.

MMS concludes — the oceans are a fragile environment. Increasing stress places them at risk. It is the mission and responsibility of agencies like MMS working with partners to ensure the safe stewardship of our oceans so that future generations can enjoy their benefits. We couldn't agree more.

Example: Oil spill well handled. In the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, on January 22, some 60 mi south of Galveston, Texas, a 390-mi long Amoco-operated pipeline carrying crude from 27 platforms to Amoco's Texas City refinery ruptured, releasing an estimated 2,500 bbl oil. The next day, a cargo tank leak on a foreign tanker passing through Texas coastal waters about 40 mi south of Galveston spilled about 450 bbl oil into the Gulf.

Because the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Division of the Texas General Land Office — which is responsible for oil spills in coastal waters of Texas, through which 60% of the U.S.'s imported oil passes — was prepared, by the next afternoon, two airplanes had dropped "thousands of gallons" of dispersant on the larger spill. The application was termed successful. Meanwhile, the smaller tanker spill was handled by the tanker operator who applied dispersants from a tending vessel to the spill, which was contained by a protective boom.

Within three days, cleanup of the first spill had been completed, and what was left of a 450-bbl second spill was "boomed and under control." "Because we were able to go "big" early on the first spill, and because General Land Office and Coast Guard response teams were within striking distance of the second, it appears that these spills — which several years ago likely would have caused serious damage —will not be harmful to ocean waters or marine life and no oil will reach the Texas coastline," Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro said.

Mauro credited utilization of a "pre-approved dispersant plan" with the quick cleanup. Under the pre-approval plan, dispersants which in the past might have taken two days to get approved had been airborne within hours. In a previous statement he had noted, "Ironically, the Texas General Land Office conducted an oil spill drill with the U.S. Coast Guard and Amoco on this pipeline two years ago, and that drill left us even better prepared to respond and prevent any negative environmental impact." Obviously all of that government/industry oil spill contingency planning is paying off.

Brent Spar pieces find new home. Shell UK's Brent Spar was installed in Brent field in June 1976, as a uniquely designed oil storage/tanker loading facility. It ceased operating in late 1991. In June 1995, after UK Government approval and under protests by Greenpeace activists, towout to a deep Atlantic disposal site was started, then aborted. After considerable more brouhaha, the Spar was finally given temporary berth in Norway's deep Erdfjord.

By late 1995, Shell had received more than 200 unsolicited proposals for dealing with the orphaned Spar, plus responses to official notices for recommendations. By January 1997, six short-listed contractors were asked to develop 11 different ideas.

In January 1998, Shell announced that it had chosen the re-use proposal from the British/Norwegian consortium Wood-GMC. That proposal will be submitted to the Government in a formal decommissioning plan. The approval schedule is now in the hands of the UK's Department of Trade and Industry; hopefully work can start this summer.

The contractor's plan is to raise the Spar using a cable sling between barges and cut the main body into several cylindrical "slices." These will be barged to Mekjarvik, near Stavanger, Norway, and used as the foundation for a large concrete quay, to enlarge that area's port/harbor facility. The Spar's topsides will be removed and scrapped at a Norwegian yard.

Copyright © 1999 World Oil
Copyright © 1999 Gulf Publishing Company