Environmental monitoring has been in operation since the 1980s in connection with the individual oilfields. In 1996 the continental shelf was divided up into 11 regions for sea bed monitoring. Studies are performed in an individual region every third year, and these alternate between the regions. The scope of the monitoring is related to the offshore activity in the individual regions.

Requirements for monitoring

The monitoring consists of taking samples of the sea bed, analysing the sediment for various heavy metals and oil compounds, as well as looking at the biodiversity in the zoobenthos (sea bed animals) community. Data from the monitoring is also used in connection with reporting for OSPAR (the Oslo-Paris Convention).

Environmental monitoring is a requirement posed by SFT, which is laid down in the Norwegian Regulations relating to the Execution of Activities in Petroleum Enterprises (the Activity Regulations). This is a part of the Regulations relating to health, environment and safety in petroleum enterprises.

Group of independent experts

The reports from the monitoring are evaluated by a group of independent experts. The evaluations of the group of experts are made available to the public, and can be ordered by sending a request to postmottak@sft.no.

In order to see the effects of the emissions on the organisms that live in the water, fish and blue mussels in strategically placed cages are monitored in connection with oil platforms and oil fields. Methods for water column monitoring are still under development, and no actual programme has yet been established.

Click on the region concerned on the map to display the reports carried out in the region (reports in Norwegian only will be shown with English summary):