Drilling In The North Sea — History And Environmental Concerns

Relevance: GS3 - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment, Disaster and disaster management GS1 - Distribution of key natural resources across the world, Geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

(Source: The Hindu, 08/18/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the government of the UK announced that it would grant more than 100 new licenses for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea in order to make the country more energy independent.
• However, environmental advocacy groups have criticized the move as it aggravates the threat of climate change and threatens workers, waters, and wildlife.

A short history of drilling in the U.K. North Sea

• The Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf, 1958 was the first international legislation to establish the rights of countries over the continental shelves adjacent to their respective coasts.
  • It opened the way forward for exploration activities in the North Sea.
• The North Sea Transition Authority (NTSA) is responsible for regulating oil, gas, and carbon storage industries.
• British Petroleum was awarded the first license for exploration in the region in 1964 following which the company discovered natural gas off the east Anglican coast in 1965.
• By the 1980s, over a hundred installations looking for oil and gas had been established in the North Sea.
• The Foinaven and Schiehallion fields were discovered in the 1990s, as a result of which exploration and exploitation were initiated in the West of Shetland region.
• Production of oil and gas from the North Sea has reduced from its peak of 1,37,099 thousand tonnes total of crude oil and natural gas in 1999 to 38,037 thousand tonnes by 2022.

U.K.’s new oil drilling projects

• The Government of the U.K. is likely to approve the development of Rosebank, which is considered the U.K.’s largest undeveloped oil and gas field, and other sites in the North Sea.
• The government plans to slow the decline in the production of oil and gas in order to secure domestic supplies.
  • Even if the U.K. reaches net zero in 2050, nearly 25% of the country’s energy needs will come from oil and gas.
  • It also announced support for new carbon capture and storage initiatives.

Why is offshore drilling problematic?

• According to the Natural Resources Defence Council, a U.S.-based environmental advocacy group, offshore drilling poses serious risks to employees working on offshore oil rigs, and the natural environment and wildlife in the region.
• Labor: It is a high-risk job that also affects the availability of labor in other industries in the region.
• Climate change: Drilling for oil in seas and oceans results in a rise in sea level and warming of seawater.
  • This increases the potential threats posed by climate change.
• Biodiversity: The marine biodiversity of the North Sea is directly affected by offshore drilling in the region.
  • Additionally, the coral reefs, shellfish, and marine ecosystems face indirect threats due to the increased acidity of the waters as a result of carbon pollution.
• Emissions: According to the U.K.-based NGO, Carbon Tracker, the average emissions of major oil companies have to be reduced by 40% by 2040 compared to 2019 levels.
  • This means that new offshore oil rig projects pose a risk to the success of the commitments under the Paris Agreement.
• Health: Moreover, offshore oil exploration is expensive and extremely polluting.
  • There are serious health issues associated with offshore drilling such as asthma, and other respiratory problems.

Pros of offshore drilling

• Increased Oil Production: It directly increases the quantity of oil produced for fuel and energy.
• Employment: It directly leads to employment generation and thus stimulates the economy.
• Self-reliance: Offshore drilling helps attain self-sufficiency in terms of fuel and protection from external influences.
• Oil Prices: It lowers the price of oil as a result of local production and lower transportation costs.

Is the U.K. honoring its climate commitments?

• According to a Progress Report prepared by the Climate Change Committee that advises the Government of the U.K., the U.K. is not adequately prepared for climate change.
• The National Adaptation Programme is a statutory programme to be followed by the government to prepare for climate change, as required under the Climate Change Act.
  • Activities for adaptation to climate change have not been at the scale required to accommodate the potential threat of climate change.
• The U.K.’s climate action is inconsistent with the Paris Agreement despite an overall rating of “almost sufficient”.
  • The U.K.’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and long-term targets are not an equitable share of global efforts to address climate change.
  • The U.K. has committed to achieving ‘net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

North Sea The North Sea is a sea situated in northern Europe and is part of the Atlantic Ocean. Borders: It is bordered by the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Norway, and the Faroe Islands. It is linked to the Atlantic Ocean via the English Channel. It is linked to the Baltic Sea via the Kattegat and Skagerrak straits. Area: It covers an area of approximately 570,000 square kilometers. It is a relatively shallow sea with the Norwegian trench (725 meters) being the deepest portion and the Dogger Bank (12 meters deep) being the shallowest.. Climate: An oceanic temperate maritime climate with slightly high temperatures. Cool and long winters are long, and short and mild summers Rivers: Major rivers that drain into the North Sea are the Forth, Elbe, the Weser, the Ems, the Rhine and the Meuse, the Scheldt, the Thames, and the Humber.

Oil exploration ban in Ecuador Recently, in a referendum conducted alongside the Presidential elections in Ecuador, citizens voted to halt oil drilling in Yasuni National Park. The Ecuadoran state oil company Petroecuador will be required to dismantle its operations in Block 44 within the National Park as a result of the vote. At the summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO in Belem), Colombia had pledged to stop new oil exploration to achieve “decarbonized prosperity.” Yasuni National Park Yasuni National Park is a part of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem and is a hotspot for species diversity. It is situated in Napo and Pastaza provinces in northeastern Ecuador. It was designated as a World Biosphere Reserve in 1989 by UNESCO. Extent: It stretches over nearly 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres). Wildlife: The National Park is home to 610 species of birds, 139 species of amphibians, and 121 species of reptiles. At least three of these species are endemic. Indigenous Communities: The Waorani and Kichwa communities and isolated communities like the Tagaeri and Taromenani people.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following pairs:

1. North Sea - The Rhine
2. Andaman Sea - Mekong
3. Irish Sea - Thames

Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) None of the above

Question: In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration?

1. Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams
2. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
3. Subterranean deep saline formations

Select the correct answer using the code given below. (UPSC CSE 2017)

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3