Environmental statement - Flyndre and Cawdor - Maersk Oil

Flyndre and Cawdor Environmental Statement
Section 2 Proposed Development
2.11.2. DISCHARGES TO SEA
OIL POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL (OPPC) (PERMIT REFERENCE: L00076)
The Clyde platform has a permit for the discharge of produced water in accordance with the
Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations (OPPC) 2005(and amendments
2011). It is anticipated that there will be an increase in the total volumes of produced water and oil
discharged and therefore an amendment to the OPPC permit will be applied for as required.
CHEMICAL USE (PERMIT REFERENCE PON15D/229)
The relevant permits to use and discharge chemicals offshore will be amended in accordance with the
Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002 (variation to the PON15D). All offshore activities are covered by
the Regulations including oil and gas production, drilling of wells, discharges from pipelines and
discharges made during decommissioning. Following on from a review of chemicals required a
variation to the PON15D ‐229 will be made.
2.12. DECOMMISSIONING
At cessation of production, the wells, subsea structures and associated production facilities will be
decommissioned in accordance with statutory requirements in force at that time.
There are a variety of environmental effects relating to decommissioning the subsea infrastructure
and pipelines. These include emissions to air and water, waste disposal, energy use, onshore disposal
and recycling. The nature and extent of the potential environmental effects is dependent on the
decommissioning strategy selected.
It is outside the scope of this ES to present a detailed assessment of the decommissioning options. As
an integral component of the decommissioning process, Maersk Oil will undertake a study to
comparatively assess the technical, cost, health, safety and environmental aspects of
decommissioning options, for which a further Environmental Impact Assessment will be required at
that time.
Detailed decommissioning plans will be submitted to the DECC for the decommissioning of the
Flyndre and Cawdor development at the appropriate time, dependent on the COP and the end of field
life. The date of cessation of production and the commencement of decommissioning of associated
facilities will depend upon field performance, field economics, the production of other fields tied back
to the Clyde platform and associated operating costs.
The Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) came into force in November 2009. The Act covers all UK
waters except Scottish internal and territorial waters which are covered by the Marine (Scotland) Act
2010 which mirrors the MCAA powers. The licensing provisions in relation to MCAA came into force
on 1 st April 2011.
MCAA will replace and merge the requirements of FEPA Part II (environment) and the Coastal
Protection Act (navigation). Although some oil and gas exploration and production activities are
exempt from MCAA, some decommissioning activities do require an MCAA license, including:
removal of substances or articles from the seabed
disturbance of the seabed (e.g. localised dredging to enable cutting and lifting operations)
deposit and use of explosives that cannot be covered under an application for a Direction.
disturbance of the seabed e.g. disturbance of sediments or cuttings pile by water jetting
during abandonment operations.
D/4114/2011 2‐27