Plans for EU law on oil platform safety in new year

PROPOSALS for the first EU-wide laws on oil platform safety and standards are likely early next year, the European Commission said yesterday.

The move follows a review of existing rules, which the commission now says revealed the need for an overhaul, including “more coherent” legislation to guarantee the highest safety standards.

A report out yesterday suggested tighter controls on granting drilling permits, independent supervision of oil platforms and new technical criteria for safety controls — including the kind of “blow-up preventer” believed to have failed in the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, who held meetings earlier this year with oil and gas companies operating off-shore in Europe, said: “Safety is non-negotiable. We have to make sure that a disaster similar to the one in the Gulf of Mexico will never happen in European waters. This is why we propose that best practices already existing in Europe will become the standard throughout the EU.”

But his earlier call for a moratorium on all new drilling for oil in European waters has been ditched after disagreements with other commissioners and staunch opposition from the British government.

Only last week, the European Parliament voted 323 to 285 against a call from some MEPs for a moratorium.

Some safety issues on oil platforms come under existing EU rules but “the analysis showed that an overhaul and a more coherent legal framework are needed if the highest safety standards are to be assured”.

The report says formal proposals for new laws could be tabled “early next year”, covering prevention of oil rig accidents, disaster responses and financial liability.

The commission is expected to propose that the granting of new drilling licences be subject to new agreements on company contingency plans and proof that the company can pay for environmental damage in the event of an accident.

Oil platforms are currently controlled by national authorities, but the commission wants national supervisory efforts to be evaluated by independent experts.

Oil companies are also likely to be required to agree to clean up any boil spills and rectify environmental damage in a zone extending up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.