The activities regulations § 60b

§ 60b Discharge of oily displacement water

Oily displacement water may be discharged to sea if the oil content does not exceed 15 mg oil per litre of water.
Section last changed: 01 January 2025

The operator must obtain a permit from the Norwegian Environmental Agency for petroleum activities under Chapter 3 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only). Application for permit under the Pollution Control Act is subject to Chapter 36 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only), and a fee is fixed for the Environmental Agency’s processing relating to applications for permits pursuant to Chapter 39 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only).
The regulations’ general requirements for the petroleum activities on the continental shelf apply to all operators. The permits under the Pollution Control Act will normally contain conditions that are specific and adapted to each activity. Chapter 36 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only) gives further provisions on the processing of permits under the Pollution Control Act. The Norwegian Environment Agency has described further expectations for the content of applications and expected processing time in the Guidelines for applications regarding offshore petroleum activities: https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/ansvarsomrader/forurensning/petroleum/for-naringsliv/soknadsveileder-petroleum/. Chapter 39 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only) gives provisions for fees for work with permits.
Displacement water means seawater in storage cells for oil. The seawater enters the storage cells when oil is loaded for further export and escapes to sea when the storage cells are filled with new oil.
The requirement for a maximum oil content in displacement water discharged to the sea applies at all times, i.e. the oil content in each individual sample taken and analysed must not exceed 15 mg/l. The oil content must be documented in such a way that the requirements for representativeness as specified in Section 70 of the Activities Regulations are complied with.