title: The value of offshore field experiments in oil spill technology development for Norwegian waters.
abstract: The blowout on the Ekofisk field in the North Sea in 1977 initiated R&D efforts in Norway focusing on improving oil spill contingency in general and more specifically on weathering processes and modeling drift and spreading of oil spills. Since 1978, approximately 40 experimental oil spills have been performed under controlled conditions in open and ice covered waters in Norway. The importance of these experimental oil spills for understanding oil spill behavior, development of oil spill and response models, and response technologies are discussed here. The large progress within oil spill R&D in Norway since the Ekofisk blowout has been possible through a combination of laboratory testing, basin studies, and experimental oil spills. However, it is the authors' recommendation that experimental oil spills still play an important role as a final validation for the extensive R&D presently going on in Norway, e.g. deep-water releases of oil and gas.
authors.affiliation: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: livgurif@sintef.no.
authors.forename: Liv-Guri
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Faksness
authors.affiliation: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Per Johan
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Brandvik
authors.affiliation: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Per S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Daling
authors.affiliation: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Ivar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Singsaas
authors.affiliation: SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Stein Erik
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Sørstrøm
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D007053:Ice; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009659:North Sea; D009664:Norway; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical
chemical_list: D007053:Ice
keywords: Arctic; Field experiments; Oil spill; Oil spill contingency; Weathering