Regulatory approaches to oil spill response in Norway and Russia

Abstract

Norwegian–Russian cooperation on exploration and production of petroleum resources in the Barents Sea implies joint planning of the preparedness and response to potential oil spills. The joint planning calls for a good understanding of oil spill response (OSR) regulatory regimes in neighboring countries. The paper presents an initial effort to compare the national regulatory approaches of Norway and Russia to OSR. The research is based on an analysis of primary legislative documents and interviews with oil companies, oil spill responders, and relevant national authorities. The research concludes that the Russian legislative framework for OSR can be characterized as prescriptive, while the Norwegian OSR regulations are of a performance-based type. In Norway, OSR capacity is based on the environmental risk assessment, and there are stipulations in the regulations concerning adapting response equipment and operations to the type of pollution and the site-specific conditions of each facility. Russian regulations stipulate that oil spill preparedness shall be based on the risk assessment but, at the same time, strictly prescribe volumes of spills and time to stop oil spreading without attention to specific site conditions. The research reveals the disadvantages of the prescriptive approach and suggests considering Norwegian regime as a model for adapting more flexible performance-based approach.