Study On Offshore Platform Oil Spill Governance Pattern

Offshore platform oil spills are one of the most typical and most serious types of marine environment pollution accidents in the process of human developing and using the ocean.Its ecological and social impacts are multi-dimensional,extensive and complex.Continuous advancements in technology and increasing demand for energy will inevitably lead to continuous increase in the development of offshore oil.In the meantime,the risk of oil spills from offshore platforms will also increase.Given the rich petroleum resources in China’s sea areas and the severe energy security situation,offshore oil development,has become a top priority in the national energy strategy.The accompanying oil spills have created fierce conflicts with the construction of ecological civilization,modernization of national governance and the people’s demands for environmental quality.In recent years,the frequent occurrence of offshore platform oil spills,especially Penglai 19-3,has revealed a serious shortage of China’s governance measures.Therefore,in order to realize the maximization of public and social benefits,it is urgent to establish an effective response system.However,oil spills in the marine environmental are complex and difficult to manage,the factors which determine social and ecological impacts are numerous and dynamic.The impacts of major oil spill accidents are typically widespread,their full effects are difficult to detect and measure.Spill-related relevant research by domestic and foreign scholars are often limited to their respective subject areas.Thus,there is a lack of well developed,multidisciplinary and multidisciplinary oil spill governance patterns.This dissertation aims to develop an offshore platform oil spill governance framework which can be used to provide a holistic approach to governance issues after the occurrence of an offshore oil spill and to lay the foundation for maximizing public and social benefits.Different from pollution governance which is the narrow sense,this dissertation focuses on macro-governance.The research methods of the dissertation include literature research,field surveys and interdisciplinary studies which integrate knowledge from oceanography,environmental sciences,law,management and economics.Theoretical bases are governance theory and externality theory.Empirical studies are focused on U.S.Deepwater Horizon accident and China’s Penglai 19-3 accident.Drawing on the experience and lessons of the United States and summarizing the deficiencies in China,this dissertation proposes several suggestions to optimizeChina’ s future response to offshore platform oil spills.The offshore platform oil spill governance pattern,as an analytical framework,not only provides a method for comprehensive analyses of oil spill incidents,but also points out the path for optimizing oil spill governance.As response to major oil spills from offshore platforms typically involve managing public crises,the framework can serve as a useful reference for managing public crises resulting from similar marine environment incidents(such as oil spills from ships and hazardous chemicals leaking,etc.).Given the current situation in China,the study is a significant step in theoretical exploration and in formulating practical guidance to the management of major marine pollution events.This dissertation has achieved the following major results:(1)Established an offshore platform oil spill governance pattern,with theoretical innovationsThis dissertation introduces the theory of governance which is represented by good governance in political economy and the theory of externalities in environmental economics as the theoretical basis.For the first time,the study proposes that offshore platform oil spill governance pattern is a framework including multi-level coordination under the guidance of a top-level design and the application of governance measures as the key to achieve effective governance.The top-level design is formulated to internalize negative externalities and to realize the goals of good governance,covering four levels:the legal level,the economic level,the management level,and the ecological level.The governance framework includes five principal actors:the regulatory agency,the responsible party,the public,the scientific institution,and the court.The core of governance measures involve a compensation system,scientific decision-making,and collaborative governance.The objectives of governance are to minimize accident occurrence,to reduce ecological,property,and personal damages,and,at the same time,to compensate economic,ecological,and personal losses,to maintain social stability,to restore the ecological environment to its original level,and to achieve the reduction of negative externalities and maximization of social benefits.(2)Developed a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the U.S.Deepwater Horizon accident using the proposed governance patternThis dissertation provides a thorough review of the Deepwater Horizon accident,with a comprehensive analysis of oil spill governance mechanisms in the United States.The study identifies the U.S.governance measures that is worth learning and shortcomings that needs to circumvent.In the analysis of governance measures in the United States,the study focuses on the compensation system represented by the Gulf Coast Claim Facility and the Gulf Restoration Trust Fund,the scientific decision-making in emergency response,damage assessment,and restoration,and the collaborative governance by management entities in emergency response.This dissertation argues that in the case of Deepwater Horizon,governance inadequacy lies in the conflicts between the federal government and local governments,the lack of performance of the regulatory agency,and the lack of preparation by the scientific and technological community.In the end,this dissertation analyzes the reform measures adopted by the United States after the Deepwater Horizon accident.(3)Put forward suggestions for optimizing China’s offshore platforms oil spill governanceThis dissertation applies the proposed governance model to conduct an empirical study of the Penglai 19-3 accident in China and to examine the defects and deficiencies in the governance mechanism.The analysis of China’s reform measures after the Penglai 19-3 accident finds that although these measures have established a basic system for offshore platform oil spill governance,it does not meet the requirements of the governance pattern proposed in the dissertation.After drawing lessons from the experiences of the Deepwater Horizon accident and Penglai 19-3 accident,key points for further optimization in oil spill governance in China are proposed:to improve the compensation system through setting liability limits and creating an offshore oil pollution fund,to improve the scientific decision-making by increasing investment in ocean research and strengthening scientific communication,to improve the collaborative governance by improving mechanisms for information disclosure and public participation.