Environmental Management of Offshore Petroleum Activities in China: Developments and Prospects

With the rapid economic growth, China is eager to get sufficient energy supply including oil and gas to support its dynamic national development. However, offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation inevitably bring environmental risks and potential damages to the ocean. Even without any significant environmental impact during the whole process of petroleum operations, the restoration of the marine environment to the status quo ante after such activities poses a serious challenge to the Chinese government and oil companies operating in China seas. This chapter attempts to assess and analyze China’s relevant laws and regulations governing marine environmental protection against pollution from offshore petroleum activities and their actual effectiveness of implementation. In particular, the paper will deal with in detail how China adopts and implements the relevant regulations and measures on decommissioning of no longer used oil rigs, removal of abandoned offshore oil platforms, and post-abandonment surveys and monitoring to restore and maintain the surrounding marine environment at a healthy level. By examining these laws and regulations, it can be seen whether China’s offshore activities are in line with the requirement of sustainability as well as international standards and under the sound environmental management.