International legal protection of the marine environment from operational pollution arising from the operation of offshore oil and gas installations

Abstract

The article deals with a set of international legal requirements towards prevention, reduction and control of operational pollution from offshore oil and gas installations. The analysis shows the fragmented character of the current international legal framework, that is reflected both in general nature of global maritime conventions rules on the operational pollution prevention and the non-extension of global rules and standards of reduction and control to the most hazardous pollutant agents arising from underwater drilling. The comprehensive sets of requirements on prevention, reduction and control of operational pollution are established by only a few regional maritime conventions. In the light of the fragmented nature of international legal framework, the study attempts to make the case for the universal ≪Guidelines on prevention, reduction and control of operational pollution from exploration and exploitation of the seabed resources≫. Elaborating further on prospects of regional regulation the study considers the most relevant geographical regions of international cooperation for the Russian Federation.