Integrated Risk Assessment and Management of Oil Spills in the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract In the aftermath of the massive oil spills in the Timor Sea and the Gulf of Mexico there is heightened wariness and many questions about the sustainability of offshore exploration for oil and its marine transportation. Traditionally, oil spill management has been a reactive rather than proactive process involving containment, dispersal, capture, and possibly beaching and clean up of oil spills. There was little forward planning on how to minimize and manage oil slicks to reduce the environmental impacts. This is no longer accepted by the public and so new proactive approaches are needed. A new risk assessment approach was developed and is being implemented in the Gulf of Thailand, but the method could be applied anywhere. The approach combines advanced computer modeling, integrated with geographic information systems and environmental sensitivity indices. In this paper a process for identifying, assessing and minimizing environmental risks from oil spills is introduced based on a recent work in Thailand. The paper includes maps and model predictions of risk areas from a hypothetical spill and a comparison of the results of the new approach with those of the currently accepted method of risk assessment in Thailand. The method will be beneficial in refining the mapping of risk areas in sensitive and confined areas such as bays. It will add rigour to the analysis of the oil spill risk component of environmental impact assessments that are mandatory for the exploration and transportation of oil. It will also be helpful in developing emergency response plans using window of opportunity to mobilize for a spill event. The novelty of the approach is the use of overlaying model projections from both a source and receptor perspectives. Introduction In the aftermath of the massive oil spills in the Timor Sea and the Gulf of Mexico there is heightened wariness and many questions about the sustainability of offshore exploration for oil and its transportation across the seas. Traditionally oil spill management has been a reactive rather than proactive process involving containment, dispersal, interception, capture, and possibly beaching and clean up of oil spills. There was little forward planning on how to minimize and manage oil slicks to reduce the environmental impacts until the major catastrophe of the Exxon Valdez event in Alaska over 20 years ago. Although planning has become much more thorough since, the recent catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico has put renewed pressure on increasing the level of preventative planning for such events. Therefore, new proactive approaches are being called for which are more rigorous and provide greater environmental security and protection. In this paper an integrated process for identifying, assessing and reducing such risks is discussed. Types of Risks Risk Sources - Sources of risk include exploration wells, floating production storage and offloading facilities, shipping, oil containers and fuel releases from ships. Blow out of oil wells and accidents at the platforms are dramatic and headline news as was the case of the Deep Horizon event in the Gulf of Mexico. Spills during the transfer of oil to and from floating storage facilities or at docks usually involve less volumes, but they occur more frequently than well blow outs. The loss of fuel from ships, either through accidents, leakages or deliberate dumping, is by far the most common form of oil spill at sea. However they involve the least amount of spilt oil volumetrically. The key issue with risk sources is the need to understand the areas which may be affected by spills.