Content:
Kevin T. Kunkel
Pagemasters:
Alice Drew
Marcia Oliver
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Norway
The existing MOU (detailed below) between
MMS and the NPD is being updated due to reforms in the Norwegian
government. The new
Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on May 6, 2004, is
necessary because a new agency, The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA)
- has been formed to deal with offshore safety. NPD will continue
to deal with resource, access, and reservoir management matters.
More information is available.
Cooperative Activities
On October 15, 1998, the MMS and the
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) of the Kingdom of Norway
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
concerning scientific and technical cooperation related to offshore oil, gas, and mineral
resources. The MOU establishes a formal framework with NPD for the exchange of scientific
and technical knowledge, exchange visits, cooperative research, and other forms of
cooperative activities.
In
early 1993, the MMS and NPD exchanged letters agreeing to exchange information and
cooperate on issues regarding the management of offshore oil and gas. Representatives meet
annually to discuss mutual interests with a view toward determining the international
applicability of certain regulations. These annual meetings have expanded to include
Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom (UK). The group has become known as the
International Regulator's Forum. The MMS continues to cooperate with NPD on safety
and oil spill research projects and the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority on issues
concerning the cleanup of oil on shorelines.
MMS cooperates in a joint project,
"In-Situ Treatment of Oiled Sediment Shorelines (ITOSS)" with the Norwegian
Control Authority, Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada, Exxon Research, Imperial Oil
Canada, Marine Pollution Control Unit (UK), and the Texas General Land Office. The ITOSS is
part of a long-term strategy to better understand the behavior of oil on shorelines and to
apply appropriate response options.
An MMS team from the Minerals
Revenue
Program traveled to Norway in late 1996 to discuss their policies and practices regarding
royalty collection, valuation, audit, verification, deep water relief, and automated
systems as part of the Minerals Revenue Management's reengineering project.
Other Activities
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MMS and NPD cooperate closely to assist
Russia in offshore oil and gas legislative, economic, and environmental reform. The
multilateral effort seeks to improve Russias offshore oil and gas operations by
revising its safety and environmental regulatory regime to be more consistent with western
standards.
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Norway participates with MMS and other
Arctic countries in the
Arctic Council. The Council is a
high level policy forum that addresses environmental and other non-military issues of
concern to arctic nations.
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Participates in a joint government-industry
study--"Dented and Corroded Pipelines"--Det Norske Veritas, Oslo, Norway--The
objective is to develop methods to assess effects of dents and corrosion of pipelines.
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Cooperates in a joint government-industry
study, "Reliability of Corroded Pipelines"--Det Norske Veritas, Oslo,
Norway--The objective is to develop reliability methods for the assessment of pipeline
corrosion considering the uncertainty associated with inspection methods.
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Participates in a joint government-industry
study, "Design Procedures for Deep-Water Anchors"--Det Norske Veritas, Oslo,
Norway--The objective is to develop better techniques for determining anchoring systems
for deep-water floating production systems.
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