NORWEGIANS CONDUCT OIL SPILL CLEANUP TESTS

Two or three times a year a small coastal tanker steams into the sea off Norway and deliberately spills crude oil.

In another country such an incident would start a minor panic and probably land the tanker skipper in court. In Norway it's just a sign that NOFO, the cleanup organization run by Norwegian offshore operators, is starting another exercise.

Norway is the one country in the world where oil personnel can learn to cope with spills under operating conditions and keep those skills honed in regular refresher sessions.

The exercises also provide Norwegian antipollution equipment manufacturers the opportunity to test new equipment and upgrade existing booms and skimmers based on performance.

SPILL RESPONSE PROGRAMS

NOFO provides the first line of defense against the effects of a well blowout or a spill during tanker loading. The State Pollution Control Authority (SPCA) also provides protection against spills.

SPCA has set up 12 depots along the Norwegian coast equipped with a full range of booms and skimmers to keep oil from coming ashore. Each depot employs 10-12 part time workers who can be mustered in case of emergency.

Norway's oil spill response program differs sharply from the system across the North Sea in the U.K., where the government has decreed that the first line of defense against a major spill will be chemical dispersants sprayed from supply boats and aircraft.

The U.K. defense against a spill from a platform or offshore pipeline will come from a private sector group run by Briggs Marine Environmental Services, Aberdeen, and supported by 20 operators.

Briggs has a pollution control vessel, the Forth Explorer, equipped with booms and skimmers on constant standby. Briggs has upgraded its facilities by opening a pollution incident center in Aberdeen.

EYES ON THE U.S.

Norwegian equipment suppliers have sold booms and skimmers around the world and are looking at opportunities that will arise in the U.S. as a result of recommendations by the Petroleum Industry Response Organization (PIRO) that could involve spending $150 million during a 5 year period.

Some Norwegian companies are disappointed that PIRO is looking for speed in response rather than equipment that can handle larger volumes of oil in bad weather, when spills are more likely to occur.

While PIRO has recommended booms and skimmers that can operate in 8-9 ft waves and 10-12 knot winds, Shell Western ordered Norwegian built booms and skimmers for the Responder barge that can work in 15 ft seas and 16-22 knot winds to support drilling operations in the Chuckchi Sea off Alaska.

Shell Western has since ordered more Norwegian equipment for a second set of booms that could operate from the port side of the barge in parallel with starboard booms. The new equipment is a 1,000 ft NOFI 800 guide boom and a Norwegian Oil Trawl PL 800.

WORLDWIDE VISITORS

NOFO exercises attract pollution cleanup specialists from all over the world, says Widar Skogly, NOFO general manager.

"There is nowhere else in the world authorities allow oil to be spilled so equipment and personnel can be properly tested and trained," he said.

The exercises have taken place in many wind and sea conditions, including waters north of the Arctic Circle. Skogly says it is easy to see the advantages of equipment tested with quite large volumes of oil in difficult conditions over items that were only tank tested.

The search for oil in the Barents Sea is moving closer to areas where ice can be a problem. Skogly says NOFO has permission to run exercises in ice areas. Those tests, to start next year, will be observed by oil company and government personnel from the U.S. and Canada.

The research effort in arctic areas will include a survey of operational conditions, mechanical recovery with booms and skimmer, burning spilled oil, and chemical cleanup of oil. Four exercises may be necessary to complete the program.

All Norwegian offshore operators are required to seek membership in NOFO, which maintains five depots along the Norwegian coast. That meets the statutory requirement to handle the effects of an uncontrolled blowout of 58,000 b/d with the first heavy duty containment and recovery equipment on site within 24 hr and a second unit, if needed, on site within 48 hr.

The depots contain 28,700 ft of booms, 14 Framo NOFO Transrec combined oil recovery and transfer systems, and 12 sets of dispersant spraying units. All the equipment is designed for installation on large supply boats that operate in the North Sea.

Although NOFO, with a budget of $7 million, was set up to handle a problem from a platform, the equipment and expertise can be chartered by the SPCA to handle other oil spills.

Norway's oil spill response system came under considerable criticism last year when a Brazilian cargo vessel ran aground near Bergen and spilled more than 2,200 bbl of bunker fuel.

Booms and skimmers were deployed, but a severe storm sank the slick of fuel. It surfaced close to shore and badly polluted many rocky beaches. Public confidence in the system was shaken, but, as a pollution authority points out, in severe weather the elements will always be the winner.