ARCTIC OFFSHORE OIL SPILL COUNTERMEASURES WITH EMPHASIS ON AN OIL AND GAS BLOWOUT IN THE SOUTHERN BEAUFORT SEA

A summary is presented of a review of arctic offshore oil spill countermeasures which was prepared by Environment Canada as one of the 33 projects comprising the government/oil industry-funded Beaufort Sea Environmental Program, initiated in 1974 to assess the potential impact of exploratory drilling for oil from drillships in the southeastern Beaufort Sea in 1976. Preliminary findings also are included from a study utilizing ice-movement data to predict the fate of oil from an underwater oil and gas blowout in the Beaufort Sea ice transition zone between the stationary landfast ice and moving polar pack. From field work on ice porosity in 1976, it is surmised that most oil discharged under multi-year ice will likely migrate to the ice surface within one year during the summer and early fall months. An outline is given of arctic offshore oil spill countermeasures projects which have been initiated to develop efficient methods of combusting oil on ice; to evaluate the effectiveness, fate and effects of dispersants in cold sea water; to develop effective dispersant deployment methods in ice-infested waters; and to generate innovative ideas for containing oil from underwater blowouts.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the Oil Spill Conference (Prevention, Behavior, Control, Clean-up), New Orleans, March 8-10, 1977.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Petroleum Institute

  1220 L Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20005-4070
• Authors:
  • Thornton, D E
  • Ross, S L
  • Logan, W J
  • ROSS, C W
• Conference:
  • Presented at the Oil Spill Conference (Prevention, Behavior, Control, Clean-up), New Orleans, March 8-10, 1977.
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 313-319

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Dispersers; Impacts; Offshore drilling platforms; Offshore oil industry; Oil recovery equipment; Oil spill cleanup; Oil spills
• Geographic Terms: Arctic Regions
• Old TRIS Terms: Oil ice interaction; Oil spill dispersants; Oil spill impact
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00172114
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: American Petroleum Institute
• Report/Paper Numbers: Proceeding
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 29 1978 12:00AM