Frequently Asked Questions
You can also download a PDF of these FAQs in English or Russian.
What is OSPRI? OSPRI , the ‘Oil Spill Preparedness Regional Initiative (Caspian Sea – Black Sea – Central Eurasia )', has been established by a group of oil companies to promote proven, credible, integrated and sustainable oil spill response capability in the identified region. These companies are Agip KCO, BG Group, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, StatoilHydro and Total – all major investors in the region.
What does OSPRI do? OSPRI provides the means of alignment and focus for the involved companies to share their knowledge and resources, giving consistent support to governments in developing oil spill preparedness in the region. An action oriented business plan has been developed.
Can you clarify what OSPRI is not? It is clear from the early days of OSPRI that misconceptions can be held about what OSPRI is and is not. These FAQs primarily address what OSPRI is; it is NOT any of the following:
- An oil spill response organization or cooperative with people and equipment on standby.
- A commercial organization with vested interests in particular services or approaches.
- Advocating the proliferation of response equipment stockpiles which are either unrelated to, or divorced from, oil spill risk assessments.
Why is OSPRI needed? Although the risk of a serious oil spill incident is low, this does not remove the need for organizations, governmental and private, to make contingencies for oil spills. OSPRI enables industry to play an important role in the development and testing of effective and efficient oil spill contingency arrangements. OSPRI 's support and encouragement of governments' own efforts at national and regional levels will improve both capacity and capability for spill response, building a stronger community of responders in the process. This will enhance environmental protection in the region.
What do the actions in the business plan involve? The actions are grouped into five core themes of support and advocacy:
- National planning
- Regional planning
- Equipment and infrastructure
- Cooperative agreements
- Training and exercising
OSPRI recognises that true oil spill preparedness stems from clear command and control frameworks, able to identify and sanction rapid response operations bringing the best net environmental benefits.
A set of measures and milestones has been developed to ensure that constructive progress can be tracked and managed. These measures focus on the sharing of information, support to governments, development and testing of trans-boundary response and the demonstration of capability through training and exercises. Why the Caspian Sea , Black Sea and Central Eurasia region? During the 1990s, this region emerged as one of the most important new sources of world oil supply, attracting investment and providing vital new export revenue. Such developments will bring great benefits to the region, provided uninterrupted exports are maintained. Ensuring effective oil spill preparedness in the region is an important part of the environmental protection strategy for energy companies operating in the region.
Who oversees OSPRI? The International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) is the umbrella organization under which OSPRI functions. Individual OSPRI representatives are drawn from the funding companies, providing their support in addition to their own company responsibilities. They communicate regularly and a Manager has been appointed to coordinate OSPRI activities.
How long will OSPRI take to achieve its aims? OSPRI aims to support sustainable oil spill preparedness in the identified region. It is anticipated that formal coordination of activities may last for five years from OSPRI 's establishment in 2003. This timeframe encompasses the expected significant increase in the regional production and transportation of oil to world markets.
Does OSPRI support the ‘tiered response' concept? Yes. All OSPRI 's members adopt the international recognized tiered response concept in their contingency planning.
Tiered response establishes and identifies resources to provide an escalating response capability in relation to need, based on comprehensive risk assessments. Potential spills are categorized at tiers 1 (local), 2 (area) and 3 (international).
Companies continue to ensure that oil spill contingency plans are in place for their own operations. OSPRI brings an alignment and focus of effort across the region at tiers 2 and 3 (working with international organizations and governments) that cannot be achieved by separate companies acting alone.
The effectiveness of tier 2 crucially depends on an organizational capability built through cooperative efforts and shared resources (i.e. mutual aid); an independent stockpile of response equipment is not essential. It is neither necessary nor cost-effective to duplicate within the region the existing industry investment in tier 3 centres, as this network already provides rapid and efficient global coverage. OSPRI encourages mechanisms leading to efficient access and integration of tier 3 support, as an essential element in planning for the unlikely case of a major incident.
What is the status of Governments' preparedness? The governments in the region are at various stages of preparedness. Key international conventions relating to oil spill preparedness and response are not fully ratified or implemented. Some countries have national oil spill plans and others are in the process of developing these. OSPRI aims to encourage these developments and the implementation of sustainable training and exercising programmes to ensure plans are tested and effective. There is a regional cooperation agreement between governments for the Black Sea for major oil spills (under the Emergency Protocol to the Bucharest Convention) and a similar framework is drafted for the Caspian Sea. OSPRI is supportive of the implementation and testing of these regional arrangements.
How does OSPRI fit into the international framework? IPIECA has a joint programme with the International Maritime Organization ( IMO ) called the Global Initiative (GI), which promotes improved oil spill contingency planning around the world. OSPRI is fully integrated and coordinated with the GI and represents the main mechanism to achieve the GI's objectives in the region.
Within this framework OSPRI has established links with the Mediterranean Oil Industry Group (MOIG) and the Petroleum Advisory Forum (PAF) in the Russian Federation . This coordination with parallel efforts in adjacent regions creates beneficial synergies, ensuring consistent promotion of improved oil spill contingency planning
OSPRI 's regional focus assists its members to integrate and address risks associated with their production and transportation. This recognizes that an incident which may be geographically distance from a business unit's production or oil handling operations may cause widespread and serious disruption, for example if export routes are disrupted. What about companies who haven't joined OSPRI? There are oil companies who operate or invest in the region who are not currently members of OSPRI or IPIECA. OSPRI actively seeks to engage with these companies and encourage their future involvement in OSPRI , to mutual benefit.
Why not focus on stopping oil spills? OSPRI neither detracts from nor diminishes efforts aimed at reducing and preventing oil spills through engineering design, procedures and training. Prevention of spills is the primary means of environmental protection in this regard. Putting in place oil spill preparedness capability is the second line of defence and is recognized as a sensible precaution in support of prevention. OSPRI 's relationship with government agencies and international bodies is expected to strengthen and complement the efforts of industry groups such as the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) who are working to ensure effective incident prevention at terminals and for the waterborne transportation link.
Where can I obtain further information? See Contact details You can also download a PDF of these FAQs in English or Russian. |
