Tag Archives: oil and gas

5 Arctic success stories in 2015

16 December, 2015Generalclimate, conflict, oil and gas, polar bears, successuser

There’s no doubt that recent years have been challenging for Arctic wildlife and people. We’re coming to the end of the warmest year on record, with no sign of a cool-down in 2016. Furthermore, the years 2011 to 2015 have been the warmest five-year period on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
It’s a trend that hits the Arctic particularly hard. The region is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the world, and the resulting loss of sea ice and permafrost means loss of habitat and livelihoods across the Arctic.

NOAA

But there is good news. Communities and governments in the Arctic and beyond are finding innovative ways to cope with rapid change. And just last week, the world’s leaders finalized a global agreement that lays a foundation for long-term efforts to fight climate change.
Here are five success stories from 2015 that bode well for the Arctic’s future:

5. Arctic offshore drilling kept clear of Norway’s ice

Bearded seal on ice, Spitsbergen, Norway
© Wim van Passel / WWF-Canon

In June, Norway’s Parliament rejected a dangerous offshore drilling proposal from its own Ministry of Climate and Environment. The proposal, strongly opposed by WWF and scientific institutions, would have moved the northern limit for offshore drilling in the Barents Sea to the edge of the sea ice – far beyond the recommended limit set by scientific advisers to the Ministry.

4. Russia banned driftnet fishing

The Russian government announced a ban in July on a destructive fishing practice widely used to catch sockeye salmon in Russia’s Far East. The ban will benefit the communities and Indigenous peoples in the region, where driftnetting has damaged and diverted salmon stocks. The traditional coastal salmon fishery is worth up to $1.6 billion US per year in Kamchatka.

3. Arctic Nations made a plan for polar bears

Our favourite moment: When we had an extremely inquisitive polar bear swimming around the boat while anchored at Bylot Island. That was a very special moment that had all aboard spellbound.

The five polar bear range states – Canada, the United States, Denmark (Greenland), Russia and Norway – committed in 2013 to making the first ever conservation action plan for polar bears. This September, they followed through. The 10-year plan commits countries to tackling issues like direct threats from shipping and oil and gas, and conflict.

2. Greenland’s first polar bear patrol launched

Sea ice loss is driving polar bears ashore in larger numbers. In the Greenlandic community of Ittoqqortoormiit, encountering a polar bear on the way to school or work is a real, and frightening, possibility. A community polar bear patrol launched this August to scare bears away from town, keeping both bears and people safe.

1. Shell Abandoned Drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean

Beluga pod in the Chukchi Sea © Laura Morse (NOAA)

After years of searching for oil in the cold and turbulent waters of Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, Shell abandoned its plans to drill for the “foreseeable future.” The announcement followed weeks of unsuccessful summer exploration for oil and gas.
Along with partners and thousands of supporters from around the world, WWF has called to conserve this special place in the Arctic from offshore oil and gas development for today and years to come.

Want to support more great Arctic successes in 2016?
Find your local office here and make a donation.

Five years after Gulf spill, drilling in far more dangerous waters

20 April, 2015Generaloil and gasuser

On the fifth anniversary of one of the worst offshore oil spills in history, the wildlife and people of the Gulf coast are still recovering. Today, companies are exploring far more dangerous waters in the Arctic, with no proven technology to respond to a spill.

A Coast Guard MH-65C dolphin rescue helicopter and crew document the fire aboard the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, while searching for survivors. Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters responded to rescue the Deepwater Horizon’s 126 person crew and battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 21 April 2010. © US Coast Guard

Five years ago, in clear weather and temperate seas, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded. Despite the region’s excellent search and rescue infrastructure, eleven people were killed, and dozens more injured. As more than two hundred million gallons of oil (757 million litres) spilled over 89 days, 40,000 people took part in the response effort. Fisheries in the region lost billions of dollars. The oil – and dispersants used in response – made many Gulf residents sick, and played a role the death of cold-water corals, ongoing illness in dolphins, and genetic defects in fish. Even today, the full extent of the damage on the Gulf’s wildlife, economy and people is unknown.
What if it happened in the Arctic?
As sea ice melts, petroleum companies are actively exploring offshore drilling possibilities in far more dangerous waters than the Gulf Sea. Arctic oil projects face frequent storms, thick and drifting ice, a rushed drilling season, and limited infrastructure. No company has demonstrated the ability to adequately control or clean up a spill in ice-covered waters.
Despite the enormous risk, Arctic nations are moving ahead with offshore oil. Norway has recently approved new oil leases at the very edge of the sea ice. In the United States, Shell plans to explore off Alaska’s northwest coast. Russia is actively developing the continental shelf in the Barents Sea. Given the risky nature of drilling there and Russia’s plans to expand Arctic offshore exploration, WWF Russia is calling on its government to institute a 10 year moratorium on new offshore oil projects.
These national projects have international implications. Oil spill projections show that Arctic spills can quickly cross national boundaries, threatening fisheries, subsistence hunting, and the well-being of Arctic communities.

Kemi arctic 2015 arctic oil recovery exercise

Oil spill response exercise in Finland, 2015. © Jyrki Nikkilä / WWF

Few full scale oil spill exercises
To date, there have been few full-scale Arctic oil response exercises. WWF Marine Conservation Officer Sanna Kuningas participated in one such exercise this month near Kemi, Finland. The goal was to test alert systems and mechanical oil recovery equipment in ice conditions.
Weather conditions during the exercise were excellent: minus 5 degrees Celsius, light wind and clear skies, on 30-50 cm of ice. “The exercise ran smoothly, but many questions remained unanswered,” said Kuningas. “Using the skimmers did not seem efficient. The skimmers only managed to sweep the upper layer of the broken ice. Many observers wondered how things would go if the weather and ice conditions were more severe.”
Weather and sea conditions in the high Arctic can be much more challenging compared to the light winds and comfortable temperature during the exercise. Also the thicker, often unpredictably present ice and especially Arctic multi-year ice would introduce much greater challenges and limitations, not to even mention the remoteness of the high Arctic area with unsolved logistical and infrastructure questions of oil spill response.
Even during this carefully planned exercise, the mechanical skimmer specifically designed for Arctic conditions was unavailable – icebreaker crews were on strike.
The available options to clean a spill on ice are not ideal. “Mechanical oil recovery is the least environmentally damaging clean-up technique, but the efficiency of the technique is questionable.” said Kuningas. “On-site burning is another option, but it releases particulate matter and black carbon that further amplifies melting of Arctic ice and snow. Dispersants that break apart the oil have toxic effects that are still being felt in the Gulf – we don’t want to repeat that experiment in the Arctic.”
Alternatives to Arctic oil
“The Deepwater spill decimated local wildlife, communities and economies”, said Margaret Williams, head of the WWF-United States Arctic Program. “We cannot allow that to happen in the Arctic or anywhere else.”
At minimum, governments should permanently protect ecologically valuable areas from oil and gas, taking into account the immense international range of a spill’s effects. WWF would like to see protection for two key fisheries in particular, the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands of coastal Norway, and the West Kamchatka Shelf in Russia.
In the longer term, WWF is calling on governments to transition away from fossil fuels entirely. A WWF report shows that the world’s energy needs could be met entirely by renewable energy by 2050.

The real value of Arctic resources

15 January, 2015Generaloil and gas, renewable energy, sea iceuser

Svalbard, Norway. Photo: Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon

WWF-Norway’s Nina Jensen speaks this week at the 2015 Arctic Frontiers conference about the future of energy in the Arctic.
As the annual Arctic Frontiers meeting starts in Tromso, Norway, much of the talk and media coverage will once again be centred on Arctic resources. This is usually code for oil and gas development in the Arctic, and the potential geopolitical conflict over the exploitation of these resources. This focus is entirely misguided.
The Arctic’s most significant renewable resources are ice and snow. The ice and snow in the Arctic reflect significant amounts of the sun’s energy. As we lose that reflective shield, the Arctic absorbs more solar energy. A warming Arctic warms the entire planet, causing billions of dollars’ worth of avoidable damage, displacing millions of people, and throwing natural systems into disarray. We continually undervalue the critical role of the Arctic is shielding us from wrenching change. Instead, we ironically look to it as a source of the very hydrocarbons that are melting away the Arctic shield.

Arctic oil and gas is risky business

Apart from the question of whether we should be developing hydrocarbon resources anywhere in the world, let us look at the question of specifically developing them in the Arctic, which in many cases means the offshore Arctic, under the ocean.
We know there are no proven effective methods of cleaning up oil spills in ice, especially in mobile ice. Even without ice, the effects of a spill in Arctic conditions will linger for decades. Oil from the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska still pollutes beaches, more than 25 years later. We know that drilling for oil in the offshore Arctic is extremely risky – just look at the mishaps that Shell has encountered in the last couple of years in its attempts to drill off the Alaskan Coast. So there is a high risk of mishap, and no proven effective method of cleaning up after such a mishap. No matter what the price of oil, $50 or $200 a barrel, is it worth the risk?

The Arctic can be a proving ground for green technology

We do not need to make the same mistakes in the Arctic as we have made elsewhere. We can instead use the Arctic as a proving ground for greener, cleaner technologies. Tidal power, wind power, hydro power, all have potential in the Arctic. The Arctic, with its smaller population centres is ideal for smaller scale technologies to produce such renewable power. Such local power generation can create local jobs, and make Arctic communities more self-sufficient, able to withstand the fluctuations in price of petroleum-based fuels that will eventually bankrupt them.
This message is not just coming from WWF. If you look at the US government plans for its chair of the Arctic Council starting later this year, it also recognizes the value of replacing fossil fuels with community-based renewable power sources – it also just put the valuable fishery of Bristol Bay off limits to oil and gas development. So it’s not just NGOs and Arctic peoples who are questioning the value of fossil fuels in the Arctic, versus the real value of the Arctic to the world – as a regulator of our global climate.

#5ArcticActions: Work together to reduce oil risk

2 December, 2014Generalaction, beaufort, Canada, oil and gasuser

This week, Arctic governments are meeting in Norway to talk about Arctic biodiversity. But they need to do more than talk. They’ve invested in reams of excellent research on life in the Arctic – now they need to act! They’ll make commitments this April, when the United States begins its chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Will they commit to Arctic action? This week, we look at #5ArcticActions nations can take to protect Arctic life:

WWF’s Dan Slavik is working with communities across northern Canada on conservation issues big and small. Few issues are as big as a potential oil spill. According to new oil spill dispersion mapping, a spill in Canada’s Beaufort Sea could spread as far as Russia. And currently, there’s no proven technology to clean up a spill in icy waters.

Why is oil spill modelling important for Arctic life and livelihoods?
With the real potential for increased shipping and Oil and Gas exploration in the Beaufort Sea, there is an ever present risk of an oil spill. One Inuvialuit elder commented at the Berger Inquiry in the 1980s:

“An oil spill out there in that moving ice where they can’t control it, that’s the end of the seals. I think that not only will this part of the world suffer if the ocean is finished, I think every [Eskimo, from Alaska] all the way to the Eastern Arctic is going to suffer because that oil … is going to finish the fish. And those fish don’t just stay here, they go all over. Same with the seals, same with the polar bears, they go all over the place, and if they come here and get soaked with oil… they’re finished.”

By completing this scientific work, we hope to inform Northerners about the risk of oil spills –both big and small- and better understand how far the oil will spread, and how would it impact the communities, environment, and species of the Beaufort Sea.
Are particular Arctic States showing leadership in assessing the risk of Arctic oil/gas? How?
Environment Canada has done some good work mapping shoreline sensitivity in the Beaufort, and completing some baseline scientific research through the Beaufort Regional Environmental Assessment. However, we don’t have the capacity to effectively respond to oil spills in the Canadian Beaufort.
What’s one concrete action that Arctic states can take in the next year?
Since we can’t effectively clean up a spill, we need to ensure that–at minimum–we protect the most valuable places. Places with important cultural, biological and economic value should agreed upon by communities, nations and industry. Then, states must put in place special measures to prevent a spill (like special zoning, shipping lanes, or even no-go zones), and infrastructure to respond to a spill if it happens. This means cooperating across national borders – oil spill don’t respect boundaries.
Is there anything the public can do?
Visit http://arcticspills.wwf.ca for to explore the risks of an oil spill in the Beaufort Sea.

The Arctic by ship – what we learned about change

28 January, 2014From the fieldindigenous people, narwhal, oil and gas, sea ice, students on iceuser

Orca, Tremblay Sound.© Pascale Otis / Students on Ice

Arctic Tern I is a polar expedition vessel acquired by the Students on Ice Foundation in partnership with WWF to provide a safe, environmentally friendly, cost effective, and versatile platform for education, research and media projects in the Arctic. In summer 2013, Arctic Tern I headed to the eastern Canadian Arctic and on the first of a five-year mission to assess biodiversity in this important and fast-changing part of the world, and contribute to constructive and collaborative solutions for a sustainable future.
Polar sailors and scientists Grant Redvers and Pascale Otis share their experiences and photos from the journey, in the third of a four-part series (part 1 , part 2).
The past two summers have allowed us to learn a lot about how the Arctic is changing, both from our own observations and by talking with the locals in northern communities. For example…

Development is increasing

Just in the time we have been sailing in west Greenland and the eastern Canadian Arctic, we have seen a large increase in shipping associated with resource development (mining and oil and gas exploration).

Hunting is more difficult

Hunters spoke to us about changes in the migration timing and pathways of many species, including caribou, narwhal and polar bear.

Less sea ice, unpredictable weather

Both scientific and anecdotal evidence clearly shows a reduction in summer sea ice in the Arctic. Although it is difficult for us to see this trend from just a few seasons sailing, long term monitoring, and stories from elders show that this is a very real manifestation of climate change. Over the short term that we have observed, from season to season, sea ice cover and weather patterns have proved to be more erratic, and more difficult to predict.

More ship traffic

This year, about 30 small yachts tried to transit the Northwest Passage (compared to 2 in 2006)! Although reliable commercial shipping through the passage is still some time away in the Canadian Arctic, there has been a marked increase in commercial traffic through Russian waters in recent years. With such an increase in traffic issues like search and rescue, pollution control is of key concern.

New species are moving north

This year, we filmed orcas in the north predating on narwhal… something that had never been filmed before! Although this is thought to have occurred for a number of years, it is still a poorly understood species interaction that might be related to climate change and reducing sea ice, allowing orcas to extend their range. We have heard similar stories of Pacific salmon being caught in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

We can’t clean up one Arctic oil spill, let alone hundreds

24 January, 2014Generaloil and gasuser

A warming Arctic means a new frontier is opening to oil and gas exploration, with the promise of prosperity for Arctic nations. But can oil companies clean up even one oil spill in icy waters?
WWF’s Alexander Shestakov argues that the technology simply does not exist to ensure safe oil development in the Arctic, in this new documentary from Danish broadcaster DR.
Watch the documentary (In Danish and English, with Danish subtitles)

Note: Mr. Shestakov speaks (in English) at 1:30, 5:35, 9:50 and 27:20.

Looking back on the Laptev Sea

27 August, 2013From the field, Polar bearslaptev sea, oil and gas, walrususer

Reindeer, Laptev Sea coast, Russia. © Tom Arnbom / WWF-Russia

A WWF-led research team, a Canon photographer, and crew traveled to Siberia’s Arctic coast on the Laptev Sea, to help solve a scientific mystery. The Laptev Linkages expedition was sponsored by Canon.
Going into this trip, I fully expected to see maybe one or two polar bears, a few small groups of walrus, and likely some ringed and bearded seals. I was wrong on all counts. In the end we observed ten polar bears (7 individual adult bears and one sow with two cubs of this year), a couple thousand walrus, one ringed and no bearded seal, and no whales – but we did see musk oxen, reindeer, a stoat, and an even 50 bird species! We also sampled Arctic char the size of Pacific Salmon caught by local fishermen. A surprising abundance of life in a remote high arctic region that remains largely unpopulated and unused by people. The nearest village is a 15 hour boat ride and is home to the Dolgan people who look more to the land and the river for their sustenance, than the sea.
The old weather station we visited was shuttered 20 years ago and a few derelict hunting cabins dot the coast, many unused for even longer. It’s also a beautiful land and seascape. The tundra at this latitude is quite different from the polygon tundra of North America or Yakutia. Rolling hills dotted with wildflowers stretch out to low snow covered Mountains that run up the Taimyr peninsula, separating east from west. Many large and small lakes also dot the landscape and from the hilltops you can see for kilometers in all directions. Truly “big sky” country.
People however, are coming back into this area and not to just observe the weather or wildlife. As we flew up to Khatanga we made a stop in Igark, which has become a northern base for Russian Oil giant Rosneft. Rosneft is actively exploring the Laptev and Taimyr for potential oil and gas prospects- on and offshore. Shipping along the Northern Sea route, where the Taimyr remains a bottleneck for sea ice, has increased dramatically with the support of the world’s best fleet of icebreakers. More Russians are also coming north for sport hunting and adventure travel. We ran into both groups coming and going at the Khatanga airport.
While change is a part of the earth’s evolutionary history, the rapid loss of summer sea ice which is allowing much of this activity, along with higher than average temperatures onshore, are anything but natural. Industrial activity means this relatively pristine region is seeing increasing human disturbance and increased undersea noise. Both shipping and oil and gas activity also bring increased risks of accidents and potential oil spills. Having traveled the Russian Coast now from the Taimyr to Anadyr and the Alaska coast from Kaktovik to Nome, I can say first hand that no country is prepared for rapid search and rescue in the Arctic, and we simply lack the technology to deal with offshore oil spills in the Arctic.
As this trip has shown, we also lack fundamental biological data for much of the Arctic. What is present now? How do these ecosystems function? How might development affect the Arctic system? What can we do to mitigate the effects of development? Before we push too far ahead in development of resources, we really need to hit the pause button, invest in sound collaborative studies of the Arctic terrestrial and marine systems, and move forward with meaningful marine and terrestrial spatial planning that ultimately meets the needs of people and wildlife. In the Arctic, in places like the Laptev Sea, we still have the chance to do things right, to learn from our mistakes elsewhere and apply the best precautionary practices as we face the opening of a new Arctic Sea.

Oil, acid and the future of the Laptev

22 August, 2013From the fieldlaptev sea, oil and gasuser

The Laptev Sea at night. © Tom Arnbom / WWF-Canon

A WWF-led research team, a Canon photographer, and crew are traveling to Siberia’s Arctic coast on the Laptev Sea, to help solve a scientific mystery. The Laptev Linkages expedition is sponsored by Canon.
I am up well before the rest of the expedition members. During the night, fresh snow has fallen and the ground is almost white. I like these moments, when it is possible to just enjoy the surroundings. Who can complain, despite lack of showers, mobiles and internet – while I scan the horizon I can in my Canon 15x binocular see; 1 glacous gull, 3 snowy owls, 9 wild reindeer, 1 muskox, 1 Arctic fox and 30 walruses. Not bad before breakfast.
The lack of sea ice here and the quest for Arctic oil and gas means that exploration for resources has started in the Laptev Sea. Fossil fuels ought to be exchanged for renewables – now, not later. We do have the technology: solar, wind, wave, and especially energy efficiency. We all hear about climate change and the increase in CO2 , but climate change also brings ocean acidification, which hampers the ability of marine creatures in the Arctic to build strong shells and bones. It will cost money to change energy systems, but future generations will thank us for doing it.
Thoughts from an environment in the north which is slowly turning into the red of autumn.
Tom
P.S. it is freezing cold to write in the open with an air temperature of 2 degrees.

Ancient sandstone, oil futures, and odd sounds from the gearbox

12 August, 2012From the field, Generalgreenland, indigenous people, Last Ice Area, oil and gasuser

Pointing across the bay, Christian Knudsen, a geologist working for the Danish geological survey, enthuses over the ancient sandstone cliffs. These cliffs, he says, date from Precambrian times. Christian is in Qaanaaq, part of a survey team looking at many aspects of Greenland’s geology, but right now, they’re focused on implications of that geology for oil and gas potential.
We’re in Qaanaaq for another day because the Tern’s gearbox has been behaving a little oddly. Grant, the captain, wants to be sure that the boat is up to the long crossing to Grise Fiord before venturing further out. He’s getting a second opinion from a local mechanic, Mads, who operates the town’s diesel-fired electricity plant.
West of here, a consortium of oil companies led by Shell is preparing to do some ‘research drilling’ that further assist in assessing the likelihood of oil and gas potential. These companies have all received claim blocks from the Greenland government, allowing them to explore for oil.
Although our trip is partly powered by oil products, and the town obviously relies on an oil product also for its light and heat, the prospect of drilling in these waters is alarming. Watching the constant procession of large icebergs drift by, it doesn’t take too much imagination to picture what might happen if one of them were to hit a drilling rig. And seeing the connection of the local people to these surroundings, the pride they take in continuing a viable hunting culture that stretches back over generations is a reminder of what stands to be harmed.
That doesn’t mean I’m opposed to what the geologists are doing. If we truly want to respect the interests of local people, we might wish them to conserve this area as far as possible, but we also believe that their decisions should be informed. That information includes what lies beneath the local rocks, as well as what lives within their waters.