Joint industry programme on exploration and production sound and marine life

摘要

The offshore oil and gas industry uses sound in seismic surveys to study submarine geology.Sounds emitted in seismic exploration surveys have attracted regulatory attention in a numberof jurisdictions. In response to this, and following publication of an initial position statement,member companies of OGP along with the International Association of GeophysicalContractors (IAGC) embarked on a Joint Industry Project to study the potential impacts ofsound from the E&P industry on all aspects of marine life; marine mammals, fish and reptiles.The first phase of research established the gaps in our current knowledge. The secondphase which started in May 2006 has 14 participating companies plus IAGC, contributingaround $8 million in each of three years (2006-2008) to identify and conduct fundamentalresearch to address these gaps. Research is being commissioned in 6 broad topic areas:1.Source characterisation and propagation;2. Physical physiological and hearing effects;3. Behavioural reactions and biologically significant events;4.Mitigation and monitoring;5.Research tools;6.Communication of results.By the second half of 2007 more than 30 research contracts have been commissionedamounting to $12 million expenditure. Results of the programme will be published in peerreviewedjournals and will subsequently be released through a publicly accessible dataarchive.