The European Commission gave a positive assessment on Monday 16 November of the implementation by Member States of the European Directive (2013/30) on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations.
According to the institution’s report, the directive has “clearly up-scaled” the safety of operations at sea, not only in the EU, but also in other parts of the world.
In particular, the stakeholder consultation showed that the Directive “deals in a clear and structured manner with all relevant safety aspects for preventing accidents and the means for mitigating them”, even though the current version of the Directive might not always ensure effective accident prevention outside the EU.
The potential benefits, in terms of avoided accidents, far outweigh the cost of implementation and the necessary adjustments to offshore installations, the document furthermore points out.
Another positive result pinpointed by the Commission is that the directive has led to harmonisation of the rules in the Member States and has created a level playing field throughout the EU.
While the overall assessment is positive, there is room for progress in some areas.
Further work could thus be envisaged in relation to the liability of owners and operators of offshore installations, for example, for loss, damage and pollution resulting from an accident and the handling of claims for compensation.
Finally, the report mentions as an area of concern the decommissioning of facilities, including the sealing of wells and future monitoring of former sites.
See the report: https://bit.ly/2IPUXSI (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)