HC Deb 28 July 1977 vol 936 cc379-80W
Mr. Campbell

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what action has been taken following the Ekofisk blow-out.

Dr. J. Dickson Mabon

The first priority is, of course, to prevent oil spills from offshore oil and gas production and exploration, and when the Report of die Norwegian Commission of Inquiry into the Ekofisk Bravo blow-out is available my Department will review its findings as a matter of urgency so that any appropriate lessons can be perceived and, as necessary, implemented. Meantime, together with the Under-Secretary of State I attended a meeting of North Sea States in Oslo on 21st and 22nd June 1977, and the Government will be playing a full rôle in strengthening and developing national and international arrangements to deal with oil spills. I have placed a copy of the communiqué of the meeting in the Library. Last year the Central Unit on Environmental Pollution published Pollution Paper No. 8 on "Accidental Oil Pollution of the Sea" and the lessons of the Ekofisk incident have been taken into account in the consideration of this paper on which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment is making a statement today.

In addition I informed the United Kingdom Offshore Operators' Association earlier this week that I am calling in the blow-out contingency plans of all offshore operators so that the preparedness of each operator to deal with a blow-out at his installation can be assessed. Particular points of interest will be the availability and response time of firefighting vessels and the availability, type and potential effectiveness of other vessels/equipment/resources required to deal with a blowout. This review should be completed by end August for currently producing oilfields and those companies engaged in exploration/development drilling. Pending this review no decision has been taken on the possible requirement for specialist emergency vesesls/equipment to deal with blow-outs on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.

I will report further to the House when the action referred to above has been completed.