Lessons Learned from Deepwater Horizon Incident - Adapting an Integrated Command System with Governmental Takeover of the Incident Command
Authors: Ly Johan Marius , Idas Kathrine , Bergstrøm Rune , Dragsund Egil 
Published: August 2014

Both the Norwegian authorities and the oil industry have completed assessments and evaluations with respect to the lessons learned and experiences gained from the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010. This paper will focus on the establishment of a national system for handling very large oil spills and governmental takeover of the incident command from the responsible operating company. The Norwegian oil industry is subject to preparedness requirements following the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) regulations for petroleum related activities. Based on this, all offshore operating companies must have contingency plans and be able to respond to an oil spill resulting from their own activities. The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) has a duty on behalf of the government to maintain preparedness and respond to major instances of acute pollution and, by law, has the obligation to take command and direct major response operations.

On the Norwegian Continental Shelf there have only been two incidents involving the offshore oil industry with the release of crude oil estimated at more than 4,000 m3. The Bravo blow-out occurred in 1977, with a release of oil of approximately 12,700 m3. The Statfjord A release occurred in 2007 during a shuttle tanker loading with a release of oil of approximately 4,400 m3. The Bravo blowout lasted for eight days and resulted in a high focus on oil spill response both within the oil industry and for the authorities. The Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO) was established in 1978 as the industry's operational organization within oil spill contingency.

In 2013 an updated national risk picture was presented with fourteen defined scenarios. One of these is an offshore oil and gas blow-out spilling approximately 300,000 tonnes and resulting in approximately 3,000 km of polluted shoreline. Together with the lessons identified from the Deepwater horizon response in 2010 there was a need to assess and improve how spills with an extreme nature and magnitude were organized on a national level.

Within the framework of the Pollution Control act and HSE regulations a system has been developed in a joint effort between the oil industry and the authorities. The system is based on the already existing integrated command structure in Norway and will be part of the national contingency plan. The system for governmental takeover of the incident command, how the takeover is organized, and how the responsibilities are distributed is described in a bridging document. One of the main issues is how to be prepared to make full use of the Pollution Control Act and international agreements to bring added value to the spill response operations. A decision for governmental takeover will be based on a holistic assessment of the actual oil spill and the environmental consequences, and will build upon the already existing spill response organization established by the responsible operating company.