Spill Response Preparedness
At ConocoPhillips, prevention of any spill through project planning, design, implementation and leadership is a primary objective. However, in the event that a spill occurs, plans and processes are in place to ensure we can respond effectively.
ConocoPhillips conducts oil spill exercises and drills each year for its U.S. operations in compliance with the requirements of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act. We work with organizations such as the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) to encourage regulators to support international cooperation, including bringing outside resources into specific locations to improve local spill response capabilities. ConocoPhillips utilizes best practices for spill response on an international basis. We consider U.S. compliance requirements to be among the most robust and therefore apply these standards internationally where feasible and in alignment with host-country requirements.
As part of the company’s 2010 emergency preparedness program, ConocoPhillips conducted several major response exercises worldwide. Many of these drills included Incident Management Assist Teams (IMAT). There are three regional IMAT teams (Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific) comprised of volunteers from throughout ConocoPhillips who are trained to respond to significant incidents. As part of the ConocoPhillips/Polar Tankers Vessel Response Plan, the Spill Management Team and the ConocoPhillips Americas IMAT responded to a simulated scenario of a vessel collision and release of crude oil. The exercise spanned two days and included 190 responders. Participating organizations included ConocoPhillips, federal, state, and local agencies, Oil Spill Response Organizations (OSROs), technical contractors and industry peers.
Also in 2010, ConocoPhillips hosted a U.S. Coast Guard led exercise in Savannah, Georgia. The drill included response organizations from Georgia and South Carolina. The scenario was a simulated release of feed stock oil from the ConocoPhillips lubricants plant located on the Savannah River, with a simulated impact from the Port of Savannah to the Atlantic Ocean. More than 150 responders from ConocoPhillips, the Americas IMAT, federal, state, and local agencies along with OSROs and support technical specialists were involved.
Most recently, ConocoPhillips’ Lower 48 – Gulf of Mexico Operations conducted a major exercise which involved representatives from the U. S. Coast Guard and the Marine Spill Response Corporation. This drill emphasized activities resulting from a sustained incident from deepwater Gulf of Mexico production, and involved a full-day incident planning cycle and briefing exercise.
ConocoPhillips’ international operations have similar exercise programs. In 2010, a one-day, large-scale exercise was held in Aberdeen, Scotland, for Southern North Sea offshore production. This included the ConocoPhillips UK Operations, the Europe IMAT, the national environmental authority, local agencies, and Oil Spill Response, Ltd. In Bohai Bay China, an exercise simulating a release from a floating production and storage offshore vessel was conducted. This exercise involved ConocoPhillips China Operations, the Asia Pacific IMAT, Oil Spill Response, Ltd, and response technology specialists.
Our expenditures on spill response technologies are not reported separately in our financial reports. Related spending includes our membership in OSROs across the globe, which affords us access to the latest advances in proven response equipment. In the Gulf of Mexico, we are members of two OSROs, Clean Gulf Associates (CGA) and Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC), which had 2010 gross operating expenditure budgets of $4 million and $70 million, respectively. ConocoPhillips is the largest financial participant in MSRC. We also utilize the National Oil Spill Response Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility (Ohmsett) in New Jersey for spill response training. This facility is operated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and provides full-scale oil spill response equipment testing, research and training.
Our Alaska business unit has extensive spill response equipment through Alaska Clean Seas (ACS) for our existing Alaska operations. In support of our Arctic operations around the world, ConocoPhillips also recently participated in oil recovery in-ice testing through a joint industry project at a cost of $1.2 million. Through our participation in industry groups such as the API Emergency Preparedness and Response Group, IPIECA’s Industry Technical Advisory Committee and Arctic Task Force, as well as our cooperatives, we are provided the opportunity to evaluate new technologies and equipment that maximize recovery and minimize waste during spill response.
In addition to our U.S. based OSRO memberships, ConocoPhillips is also a member of Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies, which both perform roles similar to that of the CGA and MSRC for offshore operators, focusing on region-specific solutions.
We are also members of global advocacy initiatives in the Caspian-Black Sea region and Southeast Asia through IPIECA. These efforts work to improve national plans, develop response capabilities and provide education to national governments and communities.