Environmental Impact Assessment for Offshore Oil and Gas Developments

This paper aims to grasp how the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is implemented for offshore oil and gas developments in five countries advancing in this industry and to help EIA practitioners to develop and review EIA reports for marine resource developments. For this purpose, we reviewed the legislative literature, analyzed EIA reports prepared in the field, and interviewing EIA practitioners. Our results found the similarities and the differences in EIA methodologies, environmental impacts subject to assessment, and management measures by country as well as by project phase. Consistency among the five countries can be an effective reference for any marine resource developments regardless of the country.