Marine Scotland Science: Oil and gas survey work. Peter Hayes Offshore Energy Environmental Advice Group

Marine Scotland Science: Oil and gas survey work Peter Hayes Offshore Energy Environmental Advice Group

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT Overview Background to MS/MSS Oil and gas involvement Offshore Monitoring Scale and Context Benthic ecology Other legitimate users of the sea How this relates to advice and feedback

MARINE SCOTLAND Marine Scotland April 2009 Directorate of SG Combined FRS, SFPA and marine policy areas Colin Moffat Head of Science Cephas Ralph Head of Compliance Leslie Evans Permanent Secretary Liz Ditchburn DG Enterprise Environment and Innovation Graham Black Director Marine Scotland Allan Gibb Sea Fisheries David Palmer Marine Planning and Policy Alistair Mitchell Head of Performance and Aquaculture

MARINE SCOTLAND Marine Scotland Purpose to manage Scotland's seas for prosperity and environmental sustainability Marine Scotland Science Purpose Provide expert scientific advice on marine issues and evidence to support policy and regulatory activities of the Scottish and UK Governments

MARINE SCOTLAND Oil and Gas Statutory consultee providing advice on the Scottish sector of the North Sea Chemical permit applications Environmental statements Directions Decommissioning programmes Ad-hoc requests from BEIS and Scottish Government

OBJECTIVES In-situ decommissioning pipelines Do pipelines have a significant physical seabed footprint? Do pipelines have a significant physical impact on the benthic ecology? Do pipelines pose a significant snagging risk to other legitimate users of the sea?

SCALE AND CONTEXT

SCALE AND CONTEXT UKCS 874,011 km2 UK Land 244,579 km2 Shellfish Lease 24 km2 Finfish Lease 53 km2 Sea Disposal Site Active in Scotland 50 km2 UK Wrecks 50 m Buffer 90 km2 UK Aggregate Extraction Lease 1,149 km2 Area of Search of Offshore Wind 22,850 km2 SAC/MPA/MCZ Conservation 186,612 km2 Oil and Gas Pipelines 26,949 km Anchor Chain 287 km Mooring Lines 64 km Umbilical 5,475 km Pipelines <12 in 13,394 km Pipelines >12 in 13,555 km Oil and Gas 500 m SZ 489 km2 Pipeline 1m diameter 27 km2 Pipeline 50 m Buffer 1,873 km2 Pipelines <12 in 50 m Buffer 1,259 km2 Pipelines >12 in 50 m Buffer 830 km2 Demersal Fishing 2013 1,565,47 1 km Demersal Fishing 2013 20 m 25,470 km2

SCALE AND CONTEXT

OFFSHORE SURVEYS Multibeam for seabed mapping Drop frame camera for ground-truthing

BENTHIC ECOLOGY

COMMERCIAL FISHING

SUMMARY Pipeline infrastructure footprint is small relative to UKCS and other users of the sea Benthic ecology impact of pipelines is likely to be small but requires a stronger evidence base In-situ decommissioning of pipelines poses potential significant hazard to commercial fishing

ADVICE AND FEEDBACK Oil and Gas Accessible evidence base for current and future consultation: OSPAR National MSS advice to BEIS on: Scale and context of oil and gas activities Streamline the decommissioning process Installation of new pipelines included on an ES or a direction Disused pipeline notification Change in survey frequency for pipelines on the Interim Pipeline Regime How can MSS improve its advice Assess mitigation options for reducing risk to commercial fishing Review VMS data on a more regular basis Same approach applied to cable installations for offshore renewables

AWARENESS Presentations Number BEIS EMT 1 BEIS Decom 1 Oil and Gas Authority 2 Scottish Natural History 1 Scottish Fishing Federation 1 Oil and Gas Operators 4 Marine Scotland: Marine Planning and Policy 1 Marine Scotland: Sea Fisheries 1 Marine Scotland: Science 1 Scottish Government Directorate for Energy and Climate Change 1 MASTS AGM 1 Industry Forum Pipeline User Group (PLUG) 3 Oil and Gas UK Forum TBC

Thank you for listening Marine Scotland Interactive Peter.Hayes@gov.scot http://www.gov.scot/topics/marine/seamanagement/nmpihome