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© 2019 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/). In economic geography, scholars have discussed how endogenous regional sources of skills, networks and capital have led to new regional industrial growth. However, extra-regional dimensions and global production networks has mostly been left behind in the literature. In this paper, I develop a conceptual framework through the eanalysis of how exogenous sources are coupled to regional actors through the lenses of Global Production Networks and Global Value Chains in offshore oil. The author find that strategies in GPN lead firm vary between local integrative strategies and more complex global strategies. I demonstrate that GPN strategies have different impacts on local development processes, whereby strategies in the early phases of the value chain (i.e. drilling and seismic surveys) were path dependent and led to few local linkages due to lack of competence and infrastructure locally. The GPN strategies in late stages of the value chain (operations) were more context sensitive, as GPNs sought new solutions in procurement and oil spill preparedness, which together increased the local linkages. The implications for policy are to develop cautious regional development policies that are sensitive to specific GPN value stages and lead firms within GPNs.

Understanding the speciation and fate of radium during operational discharge from the offshore oil and gas industry into the marine environment is important in assessing its long term environmental impact. In the current work, 226Ra concentrations in marine sediments contaminated by produced water discharge from a site in the UK were analysed using gamma spectroscopy. Radium was present in field samples (0.1–0.3 Bq g−1) within International Atomic Energy Agency activity thresholds and was found to be primarily associated with micron sized radiobarite particles (≤2 μm). Experimental studies of synthetic/field produced water and seawater mixing under laboratory conditions showed that a significant proportion of radium (up to 97%) co-precipitated with barite confirming the radiobarite fate pathway. The results showed that produced water discharge into the marine environment results in the formation of radiobarite particles which incorporate a significant portion of radium and can be deposited in marine sediments.

Information acquired and provided in Near Real Time is fundamental in contributing to reduce the impact of different sea pollution sources on the maritime environment. Optical data acquired by sensors aboard meteorological satellites, thanks to their high temporal resolution as well as to their delivery policy, can be profitably used for a Near Real Time sea monitoring, provided that accurate and reliable methodologies for analysis and investigation are designed, implemented and fully assessed. In this paper, the results achieved by the application of an improved version of RST (Robust Satellite Technique) to oil spill detection and monitoring will be shown. In particular, thermal infrared data acquired by the NOAA-AVHRR (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) have been analyzed and a new RST-based change detection index applied to the case of the oil spills that occurred off the Kuwait and Saudi Arabian coasts in January 1991 and during the Lebanon War in July 2006. The results obtained, even in comparison with those achieved by other AVHRR-based techniques, confirm the unique performance of the proposed approach in automatically detecting the presence of oil spill with a high level of reliability and sensitivity. Moreover, the potential of the extension of the proposed technique to sensors onboard geostationary satellites will be discussed within the context of oil spill monitoring systems, integrating products generated by high temporal (optical) and high spatial (radar) resolution satellite systems.

This paper examines human factors associated with piloting a totally enclosed motor propelled survival craft (TEMPSC or lifeboat) in ice. The first section of the paper describes the use of a usability assessment scale to evaluate the coxswain's (TEMPSC captain) control panel. The second portion examines environmental conditions (habitability) inside the lifeboat during evacuation. All testing was completed in conditions that were consistent with those that might be experienced by ship or offshore oil and gas crewmembers in the event of abandonment due to an onboard emergency. Results indicated that the lifeboat test configuration presented considerable challenges to usability/functionality as well as habitability. These findings suggest that further research should be conducted to evaluate the safety of all existing lifeboat designs. Finally, it is recommended that the international maritime organization (IMO) and safety of life at sea (SOLAS) Convention should mandate user-centered design evaluations for future lifeboat manufacturing. © 2009.

Assessment of the environmental risk of discharges, containing both chemicals and suspended solids (e.g., drilling discharges to the marine environment), requires an evaluation of the effects of both toxic and nontoxic pollutants. To date, a structured evaluation scheme that can be used for prognostic risk assessments for nontoxic stress is lacking. In the present study we challenge this lack of information by the development of marine species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for three nontoxic stressors: suspended clays, burial by sediment, and change in sediment grain size. Through a literature study, effect levels were obtained for suspended clays, as well as for burial of biota. Information on the species preference range for median grain size was used to assess the sensitivity of marine species to changes in grain size. The 50% hazardous concentrations (HC50) for suspended barite and bentonite based on 50% effect concentrations (EC50s) were 3,010 and 1,830 mg/L, respectively. For burial the 50% hazardous level (HL50) was 5.4 cm. For change in median grain size, two SSDs were constructed; one for reducing and one for increasing the median grain size. The HL50 for reducing the median grain size was 17.8 mum. For increasing the median grain size this value was 305 mum. The SSDs have been constructed by using information related to offshore oil- and gas-related activities. Nevertheless, the results of the present study may have broader implications. The hypothesis of the present study is that the SSD methodology developed for the evaluation of toxic stress can also be applied to evaluate nontoxic stressors, facilitating the incorporation of nontoxic stressors in prognostic risk assessment tools.

Proceedings of the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference Volume 4, 1996, Pages 565-572 Experience from the development and application of reliability based inspection planning and optimisation methodologies on a range of offshore structures is discussed in this paper. A series of studies are discussed which demonstrate the progressive application from fixed platforms to floaters and jack-ups highlighting the particular methods that need to be adopted for each platform type. While the basic methodology is common in all cases there are a number of considerations specific to each type relating to their structural form, operational conditions and loading history which need to be taken into account when applying these techniques. The benefits obtained from the application of these methods are discussed with relevant example applications. Important trends and key parameters in this type of analysis are highlighted through the results of relevant parametric sensitivity studies. Areas where further work is needed to advance these applications are also highlighted and discussed in this paper.