Falklands : Falklands Explorer Presents Environmental Impact Assessment
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 20.05.2011 (Article Archived on 08.06.2011)
Argos Resources Ltd has presented its Environmental Impact Assessment to an audience of approximately 35 people at the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, 18 May 2011. They assessed prospects in PL001 situated in the North Falkland Basin. Argos is the sole licensee of PL001 holding 100% equity.
ARGOS RESOURCES PRESENTS THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
By J. Brock (FINN).
Argos Resources Ltd has presented its Environmental Impact Assessment to an audience of approximately 35 people at the Falkland Islands Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, 18 May 2011. They assessed prospects in PL001 situated in the North Falkland Basin. Argos is the sole licensee of PL001 holding 100% equity.
Currently Argos Resources Ltd is undertaking a detailed analysis of seismic data but the precise exploration well locations are not known yet.
However, for the purposes of analysing the environmental impact, it is assumed that drilling is likely to take place in the north-east and south-east of PL001. The precise well locations, and confirmation of the number of exploration wells to be drilled, will be confirmed in an Addendum to this EIS at a later stage.
Ms Gayle Zymogen, who presented the bulk of the information, said that the nearest landfall to the exploration area of interest is situated at Cape Dolphin on East Falkland Island, approximately 210 kilometres due south. She went on to say that it is anticipated that hydrocarbons, if discovered, would primarily comprise of oil, with an anticipated API ranging between 26.2 and 29.2 (specific gravity at 60oF of between 0.90 and 0.88, respectively).
It is expected that wells will be drilled using the semi-submersible drilling rig Ocean Guardian, with the exploration wells currently planned being vertical ones. Following drilling, the wells will be logged and evaluated. If a discovery is made, well clean-up and testing may also be carried out. The wells will then be plugged and abandoned in accordance with Oil & Gas UK guidelines. Under the current schedule, drilling of exploration wells is scheduled to commence in Q4 2011.
Baseline data exists for the proposed drilling locations in the North Falkland Basin through the detailed surveys and modelling commissioned by Argos Limited. The Contract went to RBS, who have gained access to all the data generated 12 years ago during the last exploration round.
This Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) made a thorough assessment of the potential impacts that may arise from the planned drilling programme. Mitigation measures have been proposed for all potential impacts with extra attention given to those deemed to be of high to medium significance, allowing operations to proceed without any significant long lasting impacts to the marine or coastal environment of the Falkland Islands.
Successfully implementing the proposed mitigation measures means the focus is now on ensuring the operations follow established procedures, key personnel are to be trained in emergency response such as oil spill response, all personnel are to receive basic environmental awareness training and contingency plans are to be put in place to prevent any environmental incidents from occurring. To do this reports generated 10 years ago will be used with more recent information. It is expected that equipment needed for this response will be shared amongst the operators in the Falklands.
Operations specific addendum to this EIS that will be produced, will further define the environmental management, operational controls and employee training required to keep impacts to ALARP (as low as reasonably practicable) levels. Should there be any operational changes likely to cause a significant change to the assessment of impacts; they will be incorporated within the operational addendum. It is thought, at present, that potential changes will be minor and that these will not significantly alter the results of the impact assessment.
During preliminary consultation meetings with the Falkland Islands Government (FIG), the importance of liaison with the relevant authorities on important issues such as waste management on the Islands was highlighted. FIG also continues to review the situation regarding onshore waste management and is seeking ways to manage waste onshore, commensurate with the resources available.
As the workload is important, socio-economic aspects of the oil and gas industry have been deliberately limited at the request of the FIG to avoid overlaps with existing studies.
Despite the high sensitivity and international importance of the Falkland Islands‟ waters, there is clear dedication to carrying out these operations to a high environmental standard.
Given the current operational commitments and proposed mitigation measures, it is considered that the proposed operations can be undertaken without significant impacts to the Falkland Islands‟ environment.
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