Bilateral Russian-Norwegian co-operation on Environmental Impact Assessment

Summary

Major hydrocarbon reserves have been identified offshore in the Russian part of the Barents Sea, and hydrocarbons have also been discovered in the Norwegian sector. Sharing environmental responsibility of the Barents Sea, and with the ESPOO convention of transboundary pollution impacts in mind, a need for common understanding and addressing the environmental challenges connected to offshore petroleum development in this region became apparent. As part of the ongoing environmental co-operation between Russia and Norway, the Norwegian - Russian environmental commission in 1998 initiated a process aiming at exchange of experience and knowledge, and harmonisation of the two countries' guidelines and practise within Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of offshore oil and gas activities. During spring 1999 two expert seminars were carried out, one in Archangel and one in Murmansk. The seminars were attended by a broad spectre of representatives from several levels of Russian and Norwegian environmental administration, environmental specialists and representatives from oil companies. At both seminars the two countries' guidelines and regulating systems were thoroughly presented and evaluated. Working groups summed up strengths and weaknesses in the two systems, and four major themes were pointed out for further studies: 1. Comparison and evaluation of a specific Norwegian and a specific Russian EIA of an off-shore oil or gas development project 2. Conduct a joint EIA of a model field development in the Barents Sea 3. Feasibility study for a joint Russian - Norwegian regional EIA for the Barents Sea 4. Develop a regional Norwegian - Russian oil spill contingency plan