Oil companies have a long tradition in oil spill response planning and response. In the majority of countries where oil companies are active, contingency plans are required before any exploration activity can commence. In some countries, the oil industry is responsible for all aspects of oil spill response and preparedness, under the supervision of the competent national authorities.

Internationally operating oil companies have set up organisations to take care of common global issues. With regards to oil pollution, preparedness and response the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Association (IPIECA) and Oil Spill Response are the most important.

International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA)

At an international level, oil companies work together to develop good practices for oil spill preparedness and response and encourage national authorities to adopt and implement them. This work is coordinated by the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Association (IPIECA), the umbrella under which a large number of oil companies cooperate on global environmental issues.

The Oil Spill Working Group is a group of oil companies and oil spill specialists that is coordinated by IPIECA. It meets several times a year to identify trends, set up joint programmes and activities and produce reports on good practice in the various fields of oil spill response. In 2004, IPIECA developed and produced the Guide to Oiled Wildlife Response Planning in cooperation with Sea Alarm.

Oil Spill Response

Oil Spill Response is a private company that is both owned and funded by a large number of shareholders, including the largest internationally operating oil companies. It is specialised in global oil spill response and has developed a range of services that are available to its shareholders and third parties, including a 24/7 notification centre, stockpiles of equipment, response services, training and consultancies.

In 2005, the remit of Oil Spill Response was extended to include preparedness for oiled wildlife responses. The joint programme, which is carried out jointly by Oil Spill Response and Sea Alarm is composed of five main components:

• Developing an information base including Country Wildlife Response Profiles that can be consulted in case of an incident (to date including information on 50+ coastal countries)
• Advocacy: promoting oiled wildlife response planning; assisting countries and NGOs to develop national response plans; developing regional programmes in this field
• Emergency preparedness, including: 24/7 availability of services, developing wildlife response preparedness involving leading response groups and training of responders
• Stocks of wildlife emergency equipment at OSR bases (Southampton, Singapore, Bahrain).