BMT Supports Oil & Gas UK with New Guidelines

BMT has supported Oil & Gas UK with the new Financial Responsibility Guidelines released last week. Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative body for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.

Louise O’Hara Murray, Environment Manager at Oil & Gas UK comments: “These guidelines are part of the industry’s preparedness and response plan in the event of an oil release. They outline the level of financial liability required and how this should be declared or demonstrated to the UK’s Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning.”

BMT undertook a suite of oil spill modelling scenarios and associated assessment analyses to assist in the development of a common tool for licenses of oil and gas assets and determine where financial responsibilities lie in the event of an oil release. Utilising the SINTEF Oil Spill Contingency and Response (OSCAR) model, BMT determined the potential cost implications of the accidental releases focusing on key areas including: fisheries; aquaculture; tourism; clean-up and waste (disposal).

Claire Hinton, Principal Consultant at BMT comments: “Having previously worked with the Offshore Pollution Liability Association (OPOL), we have played an integral role in helping to shape and refine these types of assessment studies for over 20 years. We now have a strong methodology in place that has been used within this study for Oil & Gas UK, as well as other countries operating in the North Sea and can be easily applied to other parts of the world where oil and gas is an active market.”