The environmental impact assessment process for offshore oil and gas exploration and development in Norway

Abstract

The appl ica t ion of environmental impact assessment (EIA) reflects the economic and political system of each country that uses it. Before present ing and discussing how EIAs are carried out in Norway, it is appropria te to first out l ine the Norwegian oil and gas s i tuat ion and the nai tonal policies regarding it. The history of Norway's pe t ro leum industry is brief. It started in 1962 when a mul t ina t iona l oil company approached the Norwegian Government with a request for sole rights to explore for and produce oil and gas on the Norwegian cont inental shelf. In 1963, Norway procla imed sovereignty over the cont inental shelf, and commenced seismic surveys of the North Sea basin. The first round of l icensing took place in 1965, when 278 blocks were pu t on bid. Of these, 70 were allocated to 22 licenses. The first field (Cod) was discovered in 1968, but it was not unt i l the Ekofisk Field was discovered in 1969 that the area was found to be commercial ly viable (Figures 1 and 2). T h e Frigg Field was discovered in 1971 in a block awarded in the second round. The Stat[jord Field blocks conta in ing both oil and gas were awarded i n 1973 after a discovery had been made in adjacent blocks on the British side of the North Sea. M o r e t h a n 400 wells have been drilled on the Norwegian Cont inental Shelf. Approximately three-quarters of these have been wildcat wells, the rest appraisal wells. The area currently under license to oil companies is about 2.7 mi l l ion ha (hectares) (January 1983). The current product ion of oil and gas in Norway is approximate ly 50 MTOE per year. Half of the produc t ion is oil, the other half gas. The ul t imately recoverable reserves of the Norwegian North Sea are estimated to be 4,700 MTOE, of which about 2,700 M T O E have already