- These are 1996 figures. For further information, see Petroconsultants, World Petroleum Trends, 1997.
- Oil and Gas Journal, ‘Outlook Bright for Latin American Energy’, 28 April 1997, pp 40–41.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Institute for European-Latin American Relations, Integration and Co-operation in Latin America—New Concepts, Multiple Efforts, Dossier No 44, Madrid: March 1993, pp. 12–14.
- Platts Oil Gram News, ‘Regulation & The Environment’, Vol 75, No 144, p 3.
- Bob Williams, ‘Foreign Petroleum Companies Developing New Paradigm for Operating in Rain Forest Region’, Oil and Gas Journal, 28 April 1997, p 38.
- Conservation International, Reinventing the Well: Approaches to Minimising the Environmental and Social Impact of Oil Development in the Tropics, CI Policy Paper, Vol 2, 1997, PP 2–3.
- It must, of course, be emphasised that mining and petroleum exports represent the major source of export revenues for many developing countries. Giving up lucrative resource development schemes which can (although not necessarily in all cases) provide an impetus for local and/or regional economic development, is therefore not an easy option for governments. On the other hand, mining and E&P activities have frequently been associated with significant and in some cases, long-lasting environmental impacts. See Thomas Wälde, ‘Environmental Policies towards Mining in Developing Countries’, in Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Vol 10, No 4, 1992, pp 327–357, p 337.
- Williams, op cit.
- Ley Organica del Ambiente, 28 December 1976, Article 36.
- Presidential Decree No 195-A/1996 of October 26 1996. In Argentina, the government plans to create a national Ministry of Environment.
- On the other hand, while the change towards specific administrative officers for environmental matters is in general positive, it has also meant that environmental awareness remains alienated from the traditional sectors of government in certain countries. UNEP, Global Environmental Outlook, Oxford University Press, London, 1997, p 180.
- See Wälde, op cit, p 344.
- For a review of modern petroleum contracts from an environmental perspective, see Zhiguo Gao, International Petroleum Contracts: Current Trends and New Directions, London: Graham & Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff, 1994.
- In September 1996, the DTI's regulation of the offshore oil and gas industry was attacked by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) as toothless, blind and lame. Indeed, the group accused the DTI of protecting offshore operators from public scrutiny by failing to produce company-specific data on their environmental performance. The MCS also claimed that the DTI's oversight of the industry was compromised by its role in promoting its expansion. See ENDS Report, No 261, October 1996, p 3.
- The Environment Secretariat was originally entitled the Secretariat for Natural Resources and the Human Environment (SRNSH). Since 1996, it has been renamed as the Secretariat for Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (SRNSD).
- In Asia, countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have been facing similar debates. The suggestion that the Pollution Control Department in Thailand take over the role of enforcement of offshore oil and gas operations has been resisted by the Department of Mineral Resources. The PCD itself has not actively sought to pursue the issue due to lack of trained personnel and poor funding. Similarly, in Vietnam, there is a latent conflict between the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment (MOSTE) and Petro Vietnam, the state oil company over the issue of jurisdiction over offshore E&P.
- International Environment Reporter, ‘Environmental Laws on the Books in Latin America, but Enforcement, Environmental Infrastructure Lacking’, 19 February 1997, pp 176–181.
- UNEP, op cit, p 181. On the other hand, this may be more a reflection that governments wish to portray themselves as tough on polluters. In practice, however, the enforcement authorities may lack the resources to utilise their powers.
- International Environment Reporter, 26 June 1996, p 582; 2 April 1997, p 330.
- Ibid.
- Ley Penal del Ambiente, Articles 5–6, Articles 28, 35, 48,61,62.
- International Environment Reporter, 19 February 1997, p 178.
- Ibid.
- Ibid, pp 180–181.
- Platt's Oilgram News, 28 July 1997, Vol 75, No 144, p 3.
- Petroconsultants, Environmental Law and Policy Service—Venezuela, 1995.
- According to some analysts, governments, particulary in developing countries, sometimes have greater problems in enforcing environmental rules vis-à-vis domestic companies, in particular state-owned enterprises, than vis-à-vis foreign operators. While foreign operators frequently used their ability to threaten withdrawal of major investment to influence a government's possible environmental strategy, they are more vulnerable to be exposed to litigation for environmental liability or negative press and pressure from shareholders and the public in their home countries. By contrast, the ability of the state to enforce the law against its own agencies (eg state-owned oil companies) has often been problematical in the past. Separation of ownership and regulatory power, in other words, is an important pre-condition for ensuring better compliance. Problems may also exist regarding private domestic firms which may face ruin if the law were strictly and immediately enforced. See Wälde, op cit, p 345.
- International Environment Reporter, 19 February 1997, p 179.
- UNEP, op cit, p 180.
- Osvaldo Agatiello (ed), Environmental Law and Policy in Latin America, Baker & Mckenzie, 1995, p 1.
- UNEP, op cit, p 180.
- These countries, and the year the constitution was ratified or revised, are: Colombia (1991), Mexico (1917), Costa Rica (1949), Venezuela (1961), Dominican Republic (1966), Bolivia (1967), Paraguay (1967), Panama (1972), Peru (1993), Ecuador (1979), Chile (1980), Honduras (1982), El Salvador (1983), Guatemala (1985), Nicaragua (1987), and Brazil (1988). For further information, see Conservation International, Reinventing the Well: Approaches to Minimising the Environmental and Social Impact of Oil Development in the Tropics, CI Policy Papers, Volume 2/ 1997.
- These countries are Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico and Brazil.
- Constiticion Politica del Peru, Title 3, Chapter 2, Articles 66–69; Constitution of the Republic of Colombia of 1993, Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988, Article 225.
- Wagner, Jay, ‘Growing Emphasis on Environment Necessitates Advance Planning’, American Oil and Gas Reporter, 18 July 1994.
- Gao, Zhiguo, ‘International Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Agreements: a Comprehensive Environmental Appraisal’, Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, pp 240–256, 1994.
- PDVSA, Model Association Agreement, Clause 24, December 1995; PDVSA, Summary of Operating Agreement—Third Operating Agreement Round, November 1996.
- Ecopetrol, Hydrocarbon Exploration and Exploitation Model Association Contract, 1995, Clause 30.
- Ibid.
- Petroconsultants, Environmental Law and Policy Service—Ecuador, 1995.
- International Environment Reporter, 2 April 1997, p 344.
- In Angola, the oil industry has, together with the government, drafted the Petroleum Industry Environmental Protection Decree. This decree has been in preparation since 1992 but has not yet been adopted. In Vietnam, the Draft Relations on Environmental Protection in the Petroleum Industry, were prepared jointly by the petroleum industry and Petro Vietnam. This work has been in progress since 1990 but has not yet resulted in the promulgation of the regulations.
- The Houston Plan, which was implemented in 1985 by the Alfonsin administration, opened large parts of Argentinean acreage to private contractors and aimed at boosting exploration and development.
- Hugo Martelli, ‘Argentina: An Environmental Overview’, Environmental Liability, 1994, pp 93–96.
- Ibid.
- Prior to 1983, operators frequently relied on very poor techniques such as unrestricted seismic recordings, abandonment of uncompleted wells, surface storage of crude oil, disposal of primary and secondary recovery water directly into surface waters, and all kinds of uncontrolled discharges to surface waters. In recent years concern has focused on the restoration of soils and pits used for E&P operations. In 1993, for example, a number of well publicised incidents of pits (used as deposits for waste generated at the drilling site) polluted by oil led to the death of some 80,000 migratory birds. This prompted the government to adopt special legislative measures to address the problem.
- M T Stephenson, M H Nguyen et al, Building Partnerships in Environmental Regulation, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Health, Safety & Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Jakarta, Indonesia, 25–27 January 1994.
- This contrasts with the situation in Peru where, under the terms of Supreme Decree No 046–93-EM (Regulations for Environmental Protection in Hydrocarbon Activities), EIAs must be conducted for each separate phase of the overall development. Under the Peruvian system, baseline studies of the first EIA are to serve for the subsequent EIA, provided the initial geographical boundaries are not exceeded.
- Williams, op cit, p 40.
- Ibid, p 40.
- Ibid, p 41.
- Institute of European and Latin American Relations, op cit, p 18.
- Hurrell, Andrew, ‘Regionalism in the Americas’, in Lowenthal, Abraham & Treverton, Gregory (eds), Latin America in a New World, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994, pp 167–190, p 190.
- Gabriel R Macchiavello, ‘Environmental Regulations in Argentina’, Environmental Liability, Vol 5, Issue 3, 1997, pp 67–72, p 70.
- Agenda 21 was adopted at the 1992 UNCED and provides an international programme for achieving sustainable development.
- UNEP, op cit, p 187.
- Conservation International, op cit, p 3.
- Ibid.
- An exception is made with regard to concessions which were granted prior to the establishment of a protected area.
- Oil and Gas Journal, 9 January 1995, p 19.
- Conservation International, op cit, p 48.
- UNEP, op cit, p 188.
- UNEP/E&P Forum, Environmental Management in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production—An Overview of Issues and Management Approaches, UNEP IE/PAC Technical Report 37, 1997, p 22.
- Constitucion Politica del Peru, 1993, Article 5.
- According to Kiss and Shelton (International Environmental Law, Transnational Publishers, 1991, London, p 105), it is possible, in as recent a field as international environmental law, to discern among current norms evidence of a general practice, accepted as law, even though only a short period of time has elapsed. For custom to become law, state practice and opinio juris is required, that is the conviction on the part of states that a particular practice has become binding. According to some writers, customary rules may more easily acquire universal application as the time- consuming procedures of treaty ratification are absent. See Patricia Birnie and Alan Boyle, International Law and the Environment, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, p 15.
- Kiss & Shelton, (op cit), p 103.
- Conservation International, op cit, p 48.
- In 1992, an oil spill on a tributary of the Napo River in Ecuador resulted in environmental degradation downstream in Peru and gave rise to a legal challenge by the affected indigenous population against the operator deemed responsible for the spill. Oil spills resulting from guerilla attacks against oil pipelines in Colombia have been causing major pollution downstream in Venezuela and have been a bone of contention for many years between both countries.
- The World Bank, Environmental Guidelines, Environment Department, September 1988.
- Operational Directive 4.01: Environmental Assessment, & Operational Directive 4.20: Indigenous Peoples, Environmental Assessment Sourcebook, Vol I, 1991.
- World Bank, Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook—Oil and Gas Production (Onshore)(Draft), (1996). It is understood that the international oil industry, through the E&P Forum, has commented on these guidelines in an effort to amend some of the standards considered as too stringent or technically not justified.
- Environmental Guideline No 35, Offshore Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Projects’, in Environmental Assessment Sourcebook, Vol. II (1991). For further information, see Kit Armstrong, The Green Challenge—Managing Environmental Issues in Natural Resources Projects in Developing Countries, 42nd Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, 1996, pp 3(5)-33(57).
- Armstrong, op cit, n 3(18).
- In 1991, the ICC launched the so-called Business Charter for Sustainable Development. This charter sets out 16 principles for environmental management and deals with such subjects as corporate priorities, integrated management and process improvement, employee education, environmental impact assessment, facilities and operations, the precautionary approach, contractors and suppliers, emergency preparedness, and compliance reporting. Other initiatives with which the ICC is associated is the World Industry Council on the Environment (WICE), an organisation which recently merged with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). For further information, see Armstrong, op cit, p 3(28).
- E&P Forum, Oil Industry Operating Guideline for Tropical Rainforests, Report No 2.49/170, April 1991; Exploration and Production (E&P) Waste Management Guidelines, Report No 2.58/196, September 1993; Decommissioning, Remediation and Reclamation Guidelines for Onshore Exploration and Production Sites, Report No 2.70/242, October 1996.
- E&P Forum/UNEP, op cit.
- International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC), Environmental Guidelines for Worldwide Geophysical Operations, 1994.
- IUCN, Oil Exploration in the Tropics—Guidelines for Environmental Protection, Gland, 1991; Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in Mangrove Areas—Guidelines for Environmental Protection, Gland, 1993.
- E&P Forum Report No 6.36/210 (1995).
- Armstrong, op cit, p 3(25).
- UNEP, Global Environmental Outlook, op cit, p 80.
- Conservation International, op cit.
- A draft national Environmental Protection Law is currently being debated in the Lower Chamber in Argentina. It will establish minimum federal standards for air and water pollution, soil contamination, solid waste and EIA and environmental education. The government is also planning to pass more stringent enforcement measures.
- Macciavello, op cit, p 72.
- Catherine Redgwell, ‘Privatisation and Environmental Regulation: Some General Observations’, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, Vol 15, No 1, 1997, pp 33–40, p 36. This does not disguise the fact that in many cases the impact of privatisation has been to relieve the energy operator of the Ml costs of historic pollution.
- Martelli, op cit; Macchiavello, op cit.
- Agatiello, op cit, p 3.
- See Armstrong, op cit, p 22. The ISO 14000 Series was published in late 1996 and it is expected that national standards organisation in many countries throughout the world will adopt the ISO standards. For example, as a result of the adoption of ISO 14001, the British Standard (BS 7750) was withdrawn on 31 March 1997.
- Environment Business Briefing, No 374/375, 1997, p 9.
- UNEP/E&P Forum, op cit.
- In Colombia, for example, the ministries of Environment and Energy recently signed a voluntary agreement with the state oil agency Ecopetrol and private sector companies to reduce contamination and adopt clean technologies in the hydrocarbon sector. The agreement (Convenio de Concertacion para una Produccion Limpia con el Sector de Hidrocarburos—Agreement on Co-ordination for Clean Production in the Hydrocarbons Sector) was signed on 4 March 1997. Also see, International Environment Reporter, 2 April 1997, p 330.
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law
Volume 16, 1998 - Issue 2