A Pan-Arctic Network of Experts on Environmental Issues associated with Petroleum Development in the Arctic PANEP

Off-shore oil exploration and production is moving towards Arctic regions, where knowledge about the environmental impact of such activities is extremely limited. As a result, petroleum operations in the Barents Sea area, have strict environmental regulat ions, i.e. a zero discharge framework.Most operational discharges are prohibited and potential environmental impacts are related to accidents. To plan for, and develop appropriate response procedures for these events, the biological effects, both direct a nd indirect, must be known and understood. Akvaplan-niva?s (APN) section on environment and petroleum research focuses on these issues with three currently funded NFR research grants from the PROOF program addressing biological impacts of O&G activities in the Arctic and in addition several projects financed directly by industry partners. In 2006, a Bilateral Research Cooperation project was funded by NFR between Alaska Fisheries Science Center-National Oceanographical and Atmospheric Administration (AFS C-NOAA), the Fisheries and Ocean Canada-Center for Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental Research (COOGER, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) and APN for developing PANEP; considering the pan-arctic oil and gas activities development, this current proposal to the POLRE S Programme is aimed at establishing a Pan-Arctic Network of Experts on Environmental Issues for the Petroleum industry (PANEP) working on the long term impact of oil contamination on the Arctic marine ecosystem with a Russian partner (PINRO, Murmansk) a nd a Norwegian Arctic Institute (UNIS). This network will achieve a stronger knowledge base on O&G activities potential impacts on the marine Arctic ecosystem and better coordinated action in order to minimize impacts to the marine environment, the econom y and the lifestyle and well-being of the people who are dependent on marine resources.