The compensation system for marine ecological damage resulting from offshore drilling in China

Minzhen Jiang*, M. Faure

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In the past four decades that China has devoted to its offshore oil exploration and production, a model of joint development between the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and foreign operators has been used. Drilling for oil offshore is a challenging task with multiple hazards, as oil spills both from daily operations and from offshore accidents, endangers the marine ecosystem of nearby waters. Unlike traditional damage (i.e., personal injury and property damage) via the environment, tort liabilities resulting from marine ecological damage require a separate regime where relevant rules are scattered in different legal instruments. Some unique features rooted in the Chinese offshore oil industry fundamentally shape the liability distribution and the approaches to ecological remediation. The Bohai Bay Oil Spill in 2011 demonstrated that China was in urgent need of dealing with this issue in practice. This study will describe the applicable legal remedies concerning this type of damage and analyse the existing compensation system. Based on a law and economics approach, some observations are made on the efficiency of the regime to evaluate if the applicable rules are in line with economic starting points when compensating marine ecological damage arising from offshore drilling.
Original languageEnglish
Article number105132
Number of pages12
JournalMarine Policy
Volume143
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2022

Keywords

  • offshore drilling
  • Marine ecological damage
  • Ecological remediation
  • State Oceanic Administration (SOA)

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