Civil Liability and Financial Security for Offshore Oil and Gas Activities

List of abbreviations; Contributors; List of figures and tables; 1. Introduction Michael Faure, Niels Philipsen and Hui Wang; 1.1. Background for this book; 1.2. Objective of this book; 1.3. Methodology; 1.4. Structure; 2. Offshore-related damage: facts and figures Kristel De Smedt and Hui Wang; 2.1. General issues concerning offshore activities; 2.2. Location of installations and facilities in the EU; 2.3. Overview of major offshore accidents; 2.4. Analysis of recent offshore accidents in Europe: case studies; 2.5. Analysis of recent offshore accidents outside EU waters; 3. Analysis of existing legal regimes Michael Faure, Jing Liu and Hui Wang; 3.1. Introduction; 3.2. International legal framework; 3.3. Offshore liability regimes; 3.4. The current EU regime on offshore activities; 3.5. Offshore liability regimes: country studies; 3.6. Another high risk sector: the nuclear; 3.7. Concluding observations; 4. Pooling mechanisms for offshore liability Michael Faure and Jing Liu; 4.1. Theory: pooling versus insurance; 4.2. OPOL; 4.3. OIL and OCIL; 4.4. Protection and indemnity clubs; 4.5. Risk pooling in the nuclear sector; 4.6. Concluding observations; 5. The use of financial market instruments to cover liability following a major offshore accident Michael Faure and Hui Wang; 5.1. Self-insurance; 5.2. Capital market; 5.3. Guarantees; 5.4. (Re-) insurance; 5.5. Risk pooling schemes; 5.6. OPOL; 5.7. Combinations; 6. Potential of financial and insurance instruments to cover liability following a major offshore accident Michael Faure and Hui Wang; 6.1. Potential costs of an offshore incident; 6.2. Self-guarantee through tax; 6.3. Expanding possibility of insurance?; 6.4. Potential of expanding risk pooling schemes; 6.5. Summary: flexibility; 7. Toward optimal liability and compensation for offshore oil and gas activities Kristel De Smedt, Hui Wang and Michael Faure; 7.1. Principles of efficient compensation and liability rules; 7.2. Efficient liability rules; 7.3. Liability versus regulation; 7.4. Mandatory financial security; 7.5. Compensation instrument; 7.6. Rapid claims management; 7.7. Transboundary harm; 7.8. Scenarios; 8. Concluding remarks Michael Faure, Niels Philipsen and Hui Wang; 8.1. General; 8.2. Efficient liability rules; 8.3. Mandatory financial security; 8.4. A role for government? 8.5. Rapid claims mechanism; List of references; Annex 1. Overview of interviews with stakeholders; Annex 2. Checklist for country studies; Annex 3. Oil Pollution Act Liability Limits 2013.