In the sustainability report for 2006, the unique collaboration between Statoil and the University of Southampton was highlighted.
This collaboration involves scientists borrowing spare capacity on remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) used by mobile drilling rigs to take samples and to observe and film seabed life.
The project, which is called Serpent, has been dedicated to understanding the environmental impact of drilling discharges. This has been a sensitive and politically difficult issue for operators, especially in the Barents Sea.
The fear of possible negative consequences of such discharges has dominated public debate and led to a requirement for zero discharges in the Barents Sea. In consequence, water-based drill spoil from the tophole is only permitted to be discharged if it is regarded as environmentally acceptable.
So far, very little is known about the effect of discharging drill spoil. One of the focus areas of the Serpent project is therefore to map the effect of discharges from tophole drilling in order to increase knowledge in this field. The idea is to study the effects and, if necessary, to then take precautionary measures in future drilling operations.
The results so far show that the drill spoil does not spread more than 80-120 metres from the well and that many species seem to return to the drilling location not long after the discharges have stopped. This is exciting data for the scientists as well as for the operators.
By learning more about the effects of drill spoil, our understanding of the fauna also increases, a fact which may also lead to new methods of environmental monitoring in future.
In this year's Serpent work, the scientists have been collecting more general data in addition to studying fauna in areas that are not yet well characterised.
It may seem surprising, but there is a general lack of environmental data in various parts of the world, especially in deep water.
