CSCAP MEMORANDUM NO. 16

Safety and Security of Offshore
Oil and Gas Installations

A Memorandum from theCouncil for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP)
January 2011

CSCAP Memorandum No. 16
SAFETY AND SECURITY OF OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INSTALLATIONSIntroduction
The number of offshore oil and gas installations in the waters of the Asia-Pacificregion continues to grow rapidly, driven by the increasing demand for energy.
Significant activities, including surveying and thousands of exploratory drillings,
are underway or planned. This is expected to result in hundreds of new
operational offshore oil and gas facilities.
Major safety incidents or attacks on the security of offshore facilities would havewider security, economic and environmental implications for the Asia-Pacificregion. There have been many incidents involving offshore installations
elsewhere in the world. Response and recovery efforts have requiredconsiderable application of resources and a high level of cooperation between
neighboring countries. The increasing risks of similar incidents occurring in theAsia-Pacific region must be recognized. Cooperative arrangements for theprevention, response and recovery from offshore oil and gas safety and security
incidents in the Asia-pacific region need to be reviewed and further developed.
This Memorandum identifies emerging safety and security issues and potential
consequences due to Asia-Pacific offshore oil and gas proliferation. Risk
mitigation and treatment options to be further explored and developed, as amatter of priority, are recommended. Regional governments need to give close
attention to ensuring that industry, state and region-wide cooperative measures
for the safety and security of offshore oil and gas installations are adequate.
Regional disaster and emergency prevention, response and recovery measures
also require urgent attention.
Emerging Issues and Potential Consequences
Emerging issues with potential safety and security consequences that arise from
offshore oil and gas activity in the Asia-Pacific region include:
1. The proliferation of offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities
coupled with increasing maritime traffic in the region is resulting in increased
maritime user intensity in some areas. Potential consequences include:a. The likelihood of safety incidents is increased (e.g. collisions, oil spills,human errors, technological malfunctions, natural hazards);b. The likelihood of terrorist attacks on the global energy sector, althoughlow, remains. The increased risk to regional facilities must be considered,including non-conventional attacks intended to disrupt (e.g. cyber-attacks);
c. The likelihood of law and order at sea issues is increased (e.g.
piracy/armed robbery); and1

d. The likelihood of unauthorized activities in close proximity to installations(e.g. fishing within safety zones) is increasing, presenting safety andsecurity risks.
2. There is uneven adoption, compliance and interpretation of international
regimes across the region. Annex A lists relevant international conventions,regional instruments and other documents. Annex B presents a summary ofratification or accession of key treaties by ARF/CSCAP Member States.
Potential consequences include:a. The possibility for misunderstandings between states in the region isincreased;b. Cooperative regional, national and industry prevention, response andrecovery arrangements and measures are unnecessarily complicated andinefficient due to inconsistent approaches; andc. Some regional states reputations as good citizens of the world arediminished by low levels of adoption and compliance.
3. The risk of catastrophic incidents resulting from natural hazards (e.g.
typhoons/cyclones) and man-made accidents that may have regional as wellas national implications is increasing. Potential consequences include:a. The likelihood of massive environmental disasters that transcend nationalboundaries is increased;b. Food security may be impacted by massive marine pollution;c. Significant financial consequences may be incurred (e.g. increasing
insurance premiums, clean-up costs, compensation, impact on world oiland gas prices); andd. Damage to the reputation of regional states and industry, particularly if
prevention, response and recovery arrangements are found to be wanting.
4. Industry, national and regional cooperative measures to deal with large scale
offshore oil and gas safety and security incidents are generally not welldeveloped. Potential consequences include:a. The lack of capacity to prevent, respond and recover from security attacks
presents significant vulnerabilities;
b. Cooperative arrangements for maritime safety and security, including
maritime traffic, are impacted;
c. Search and rescue, disaster management and emergency response
arrangements and measures are impacted; andd. Regional capacities to deal with catastrophic accidents, including
emergency preparedness, response and recovery arrangements areunlikely to be adequate.

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5. The prospect of decommissioned offshore oil and gas platforms is increasing
as older platforms near end of life. This will significantly increase in the futurewith the proliferation of new installations. Potential consequences include:a. Hazards to navigation and other uses of the area will increase; andb. Environmental hazards will increase.
Risk Mitigation and Treatment Options
Risk mitigation and treatment options recommended for further development toaddress emerging offshore oil and gas safety and security issues in the AsiaPacific region are as follows:
1. A regular and comprehensive assessment of the offshore oil and gas safety
and security risk profile in the region is required. ISO 31000:2009 Risk
management - Principles and guidelines provides useful guidance and iswidely used by industry. Adopting a consistent approach to risk management
would help to ensure that risk treatment, prevention, response and recovery
arrangements and capabilities are in place and practiced before major
incidents occur.
2. Regional states and consultative entities, like the ARF, are strongly
encouraged to develop enhanced regional cooperative arrangements toinclude the following:a. Maritime safety and security cooperative activities, including dialogue andconsultation;
b. Disaster response and emergency management;c. Regional search and rescue, including training and exercises;
d. Establish regional standards on marine pollution including dumping andenvironment/seabed management (this could take the form of a treaty as
is already the practice in many other maritime regions);
e. Establish a regional approach to decommissioned platforms;
f. Regional environmental disaster response measures; andg. Reference global best practices to improve regional arrangements.
3. Regional governments are urged to ratify, observe and effectively implement
international conventions, regional instruments and other documents as amatter of priority. Matters requiring attention include:a. 1982 UNCLOS;
b. 1988 SUA Convention and Protocol, 2005 SUA Protocol;c. 1972 London Convention and 1996 Protocol for Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Waste;
d. 1974 SOLAS, including the ISPS Code;e. OPRC 1990;
f. IMO Resolution A.672 (16) Guidelines for the removal of offshore
installations;g. 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue;h. 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea; and3

i. 2005 ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency
Response.
4. Encourage government-industry cooperative partnerships with appropriate
sharing of responsibilities for prevention, response and recovery with thefollowing considerations:a. The responsibilities of governments and industry need to be fully
addressed so that individual and shared regional, national and industry
obligations are recognized and evaluated to ensure that there are nogaps;
b. Effective cooperation and consistency is required regionally, nationallyand with industry in dealing with decommissioned platforms;
c. Disaster and emergency response arrangements; andd. Security cooperation (to deal with issues like fishing within platform safetyzones).
Previous CSCAP Memorandums
The previous relevant CSCAP Memorandums are:•••••

CSCAP Memorandum No. 4 – Guidelines for Regional Maritime Cooperation(December 1997)
CSCAP Memorandum No.5 – Cooperation for Law and Order at Sea(February 2001)
CSCAP Memorandum No. 6 – The Practice of the Law of the Sea in the Asia
Pacific (December 2002)
CSCAP Memorandum No.8 - The Weakest Link? Seaborne Trade and theMaritime Regime in the Asia Pacific (April 2004)
CSCAP Memorandum No.13 - Guidelines for Maritime Cooperation inEnclosed and Semi-Enclosed Seas and Similar Sea Areas of the Asia Pacific(June 2008)

Recommendations
It is recommended that this Memorandum be put forward as a CSCAP initiativefor consideration by the ARF. Specifically, given the emerging priority of theissues addressed, it is recommended that ARF consideration of the issues raisedin the Memorandum be included in the ARF work plan on maritime security,
which will be prepared for endorsement by ARF ministers in July 2011. As a firststep toward inclusion in the ARF work plan, the Memorandum could bepresented for discussion at the next ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting (ISM) on
Maritime Security in Japan on 14-15 February 2011. A dedicated ARF desk-top
exercise or workshop, for fuller consideration of the issues and options, may also
be worthy of consideration, upon inclusion in the ARF work plan.

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Annexes:
A. List of Relevant International Conventions, Regional Instruments and OtherDocuments
B. Table of Ratification or Accession of Treaties by ARF/CSCAP Member States5Annex A
List of Relevant International Conventions, Regional Instruments and OtherDocuments
1. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), adopted10 December 1982 (entered into force generally 16 November 1994).
Relevant articles include: 56, 60, 74, 98, 100, 123, 138, 194, 197, 208 and214.
2. International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS), adopted
1 November 1974 (entered into force generally 25 May 1980)
3. International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979, adopted 27April 1979 (entered into force generally 22 June 1985)
4. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety ofMaritime Navigation (SUA 1988), adopted 10 March 1988 (entered into forcegenerally 1 March 1992)
5. Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed
Platforms located on Continental Shelf 1988 (1988 SUA Protocol), adopted
10 March 1988 (entered into force generally 1 March 1992)
6. 2005 Protocol to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against
the Safety of Maritime Navigation (2005 SUA Protocol) (entered into force
generally on 28 July 2010)
7. Amendments to the Annex to the International Convention for the Safety ofLife at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 Contained in Resolutions 1, 2, 6 and 7 of The
Conference of Contracting Governments and including The International Shipand Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code, London, 12 December 2002 (enteredinto force 1 July 2004)
8. Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes andOther Matters 1972, adopted 29 December 1972 (entered into force generally30 August 1975)
9. 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution byDumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, adopted 7 November 1996
(entered into force generally 24 March 2006)
10. International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships
1973, adopted 2 November 1973 (entered into force generally 2 October1983), amended by Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention
for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships 1973 (‘MARPOL 73/78’),adopted 17 February 1978 (entered into force generally 2 October 1983)

6

11. International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation 1990 (‘OPRC 1990’), adopted 30 November 1990 (entered intoforce generally 13 May 1995)
12. Guidelines and Standards for the Removal of Offshore Installations andStructures on the Continental Shelf and in the Exclusive Economic Zone 1989,(1989) IMO Resolution A.672(16)13. Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage resulting fromExploration for and Exploitation of Seabed Mineral Resources 1977 (‘CLEE’),
adopted 1 May 1977 (not generally in force)
14. ISO 31000:2009 Risk management – Principles and guidelines published 13November 2009
15. ASEAN – China Declaration on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea, 2002
16. ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response,
2005

7Annex B
Table of Ratification or Accession of Treaties by ARF/CSCAP Member States
Treaties

ASEAN Member States
ASEAN Dialogue Partners

1996
LondonProtocol3

1979
SearchandRescue3

11974
SOLAS31988 SUA

1988 SUA
Protocol3

Brunei1996r

1986a2003r

2003r

Cambodias1994a2006a

2006a

Indonesia

1986r

1981a

Laos*

1998r

Malaysia

1996r

1983a

Myanmar*

1996r

1987a

2003a

2003a

Philippines

1984r

1981a

2004r

2004r

Singapore

1994r

1981a

2004a

Thailands

1984aVietnam

1994r

1990a

2000a

2002a

Australia

1994r

1983a

1993a

1993a

1992a

1985r

2000r

1983a

Canada

2003r

1978a

1993r

1993r

1994a

1975r

2000a

1982a

China
EuropeanUnion

1996r

1980r

1991r

1991r

1998a

1985a

2006r

1985arStatesASEAN
Observer1972
LondonConvention3

1982
UNCLOS2

3

1990
OPRC3

1997as

1973r

1999a

1997a

2000a
2007a

1998fc

India

1995r

1976a

1999a

1999a

1997a

2001a

Japan

1996r

1980a

1998a

1998a

1995a

1980r

2007a

1985a

New ZealandRepublic of
Korea

1996r

1990a

1999r

1999r

1999a

1975r

2001r

1985a

1996r

1980r

2003a

2003a

1999a

1993a

2009a

1995a

RussiaUnitedStates

1997r1980ap

2001r

2001r

2009a

1975r

1978r

1994r

1994r

1992r

1974r

2005a

2005a

2004a

1988r
s

1980r

Papua New
GuineaBangladesh*
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea
East Timor*

2001r

1981as

1985a

Mongolia

1996r

2002a

Pakistan*

1997r

1985a

2000a

Sri Lanka*

1994r

1983a

2000a

2005a

2000a

8

1993a

1995

1985a

1

All States are Members of both ARF and CSCAP except States with an asterisk are not CSCAP members.
The list is limited to States and does not include institutes or consortium of institutes which are also CSCAPmembers.
2United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Chronological lists of ratifications of,accessions and successions to the Convention and the related Agreements as at 05 October 2010.
3International Maritime Organization. Status of Multilateral Conventions and Instruments in respect ofwhich the IMO or its Secretary-General Performs Depositary or other functions as of 5 October 2010.
r
ratificationaaccession
ap
acceptancefc
formal confirmation
arapprovals
signatory9

ABOUT CSCAP
CSCAP is a non-governmental (second track) process for dialogue on security
issues in the Asia Pacific. Membership in CSCAP is on an institutional basis andconsists of Member Committees. Current membership comprises Australia,
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, theDemocratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia,Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
and the USA.
The functions of CSCAP are as follows:a. to provide an informal mechanism by which political and security issues
can be discussed by scholars, officials, and others in their privatecapacities;
b. to encourage the participants of such individuals from countries andterritories in the Asia Pacific on the basis of the principle of inclusiveness;c. to organise various working groups to address security issues andchallenges facing the region;d. to provide policy recommendations to various intergovernmental bodies onpolitical-security issues;e. to convene regional and international meetings and other cooperative
activities for the purpose of discussing political-security issues;
f. to establish linkages with institutions and organisations in other parts of
the world to exchange information, insights and experiences in the area ofregional political-security cooperation; andg. to produce and disseminate publications relevant to the other purposes ofthe organisation.
Study groups are the primary mechanism for CSCAP activity. As of January 2011,
there were eight CSCAP Study Groups. These are concerned with: (i) Countering
the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Asia Pacific; (ii) Export
Controls; (iii) Significance of the Existence of Regional Transnational Crime Hubs
to the Governments of the Asia Pacific Region; (iv) Multilateral Security
Governance in Northeast Asia/North Pacific; (v) Naval Enhancement in the Asia
Pacific; (vi) Responsibility to Protect; (vii) Water Resources Security; and (viii)
Cyber Security.
This memorandum was produced by the CSCAP Study Group on the Safety andSecurity of Offshore Oil and Gas Installations and was approved by the 34th
CSCAP Steering Committee Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on 22 November
2010.
Further information on CSCAP can be obtained from the CSCAP website atwww.cscap.org or by contacting the CSCAP Secretariat:

10CSCAP Secretariat
c/o ISIS Malaysia
1 Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin
PO Box 12424
50778 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
T: +603-2693 9366 Ext 125
F: +603-2693 9375
E: cscap@isis.org.my11

CSCAP Memoranda
CSCAP memoranda are the outcome of the work of study groups approved by
the steering committee and submitted for consideration at Track One levels.
 Memorandum No.15 - The Security Implications of Climate Change
Author: Study Group on the Implications of Climate Change
Date published: July 2010
 Memorandum No.14 - Guidelines for Managing Trade of Strategic Goods
Author: Export Controls Experts Group (XCXG)
Date published: March 2009
 Memorandum No.13 - Guidelines for Maritime Cooperation in Enclosed andSemi-Enclosed Seas and Similar Sea Areas of the Asia PacificAuthor: Study Group on Facilitating Maritime Security Cooperation in the Asia
Pacific
Date published: June 2008
 Memorandum No.12 - Maritime Knowledge and Awareness: Basic Foundationsof Maritime Security
Author: Study Group on Facilitating Maritime Security Cooperation in the Asia
Pacific
Date published: December 2007
 Memorandum No.11 - Human TraffickingAuthor: Study Group on Human Trafficking
Date published: June 2007
 Memorandum No.10 - Enhancing Efforts to Address the Factors Driving
International Terrorism
Author: Study Group on Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Campaign Against
International Terrorism with Specific Reference to the Asia Pacific Region
Date published: December 2005
 Memorandum No.9 - Trafficking of Firearms in the Asia Pacific Region
Author: Working Group on Transnational Crime
Date published: May 2004
 Memorandum No.8 - The Weakest Link? Seaborne Trade and the Maritime
Regime in the Asia PacificAuthor: Working Group on Maritime Cooperation
Date published: April 2004
 Memorandum No.7 - The Relationship Between Terrorism and Transnational
CrimeAuthor: Working Group on Transnational Crime
Date published: July 2003

12 Memorandum No.6 - The Practice of the Law of the Sea in the Asia PacificAuthor: Working Group on Maritime Cooperation
Date published: December 2002
 Memorandum No.5 - Cooperation for Law and Order at Sea
Author: Working Group on Maritime Cooperation
Date published: February 2001
 Memorandum No.4 - Guidelines for Regional Maritime Cooperation
Author: Working Group on Maritime Cooperation
Date published: December 1997
 Memorandum No.3 - The Concepts of Comprehensive Security andCooperative Security
Author: Working Group on Comprehensive and Cooperative Security
Date published: December 1995
 Memorandum No.2 - Asia Pacific Confidence and Security Building Measures
Author: Working Group on Confidence and Security Building Measures
Date published: June 1995
 Memorandum No.1 - The Security of the Asia Pacific Region
Author: CSCAP
Date published: April 1994

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