ABSTRACT

Experience has shown that offshore oil and gas operations can be carried out in the most sensitive environments while minimizing the damage that might be caused to them. The risk of an incident can never, however, be eliminated entirely.1 Although disasters are fortunately rare, any emergency situation in this field may turn catastrophic.2 In the Arctic context, where the risk for transboundary damage is high, an important question is how environmental liability is regulated in the event of a disaster, and who will ultimately be held responsible for it.