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Oil Spill Response Limited Oil Spill Response Limited

Welcome to OSRL

The Industry Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC)

ITAC is non-commercial and is driven by OSRL as part of our advocacy programme, recognising the benefits of engaging our front-line response staff in industry-focused technical discussion central to developing more effective oil spill response.  We hold an ITAC meeting once per year, hosted in different locations with the meeting chaired by different ITAC members.  We try to blend both international themes with items of regional interest according to where the meeting is being held.

The ITAC Story so far...

ITAC is a technical forum that was established in 1996 to address oil spill response (OSR) issues of interest to its member organisations and the wider response community. ITAC projects sought to provide advice, technical support, good-practice guidelines and benchmarking on key issues such as new technological developments in oil spill response techniques, training and response capabilities. 

ITAC has evolved over the last twenty years and its model has changed in recent times. Recognising that much of the delivery industry technical outputs are now being channelled through the IOGP/IPIECA JIP and the API projects in the US.  ITAC has now been cast in the role of supporting outreach and communication for those industry technical outputs to reach a broader church of stakeholders in the wider oil spill community.  As such ITAC no longer “delivers” tangible work items but now offers a forum for knowledge sharing and information exchange. 

ITAC’s Key Objectives 

  • Forum for presenting and exchanging scientific and technical information on Oil Spill Preparedness and Response (OSPR) 
  • Assembling a diverse group of OSPR professionals  
  • Articulate industry positions on key international OSPR issues 
  • Identify and address high consequence issues that impinge on effective oil spill preparedness and response 
  • Develop dialogue and links between the science/academic community and the response community to enhance mutual understanding, improve science-based decision-making, scientific support to ongoing responses, and to promote relevant oil spill research. 
  • Engage and encourage new adherents and next-generation interest in oil spill preparedness, response, technology, management 
  • Highlight advances and emerging technologies in oil spill preparedness and response


ITAC’s membership comprises the oil industry (i.e. members of OSRL and other GRN OSROs) international organisations (ITOPF, IMO, IOPC etc), Governmental organisations (USCG, NOAA, etc...) R&D institutes (SINTEF, CEDRE, GoMRI etc...).  It also includes academic institutes involved in industry-backed studies and other organisations with a non-commercial interest in improving oil spill response.   

The connection with academia is an important feature of the ITAC model recognising that the industry is a big financial supporter of university-based research but sometimes there has been a disconnect with the sharing of knowledge and outputs from these studies with “industry” which ITAC tries to address. 

 

Rob Holland 2023.jpg

Rob Holland

Technical Lead

New Annual ITAC Meeting 2024

Date: 13-15 November 2024

LocationNova Southeastern University (NSU) Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

Paul Schuler

Paul Schuler

Director, Regional External Affairs Response (Americas)

ITAC Presentations

ITAC 2023

In 2023, ITAC met at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton, UK, with a brilliant attendance of around 70 people, including OSRL Member representatives from Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell and Occidental Petroleum.

As well as key stakeholders such as API, IPIECA, IMO, UK MCA, ITOPF, UK MMO and Cedre, we also had ex-OSRL colleague Scott Read, who travelled from New Zealand to represent Maritime New Zealand offering us insights from both sides of the coin; a regulator and responder.

The connection with academia is an important feature of ITAC, recognising the energy industry as a big financial supporter of university-based research. This year, we had academic and research staff from the University of Portsmouth (UK), the NOC, the University of Essex (UK), Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada), and Nova Southeastern University (USA) presenting their latest oil spill science research to the response community.

ITAC is uniquely non-commercial and is driven as part of our outreach and engagement programme, recognising the benefits of engaging our front-line response staff in an industry-focused technical discussion, which is central to developing a more effective oil spill response.

Videos of each presentation can be viewed here.

You can watch a video overview of ITAC 2023 here.

Download 2023 Presentations

ITAC 2022

In 2022, ITAC took place during the International Oil Spill Science Conference in Halifax, Canada in October. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

You can watch the video recording of all the ITAC 2022 presentations here

Download 2022 Presentations

ITAC 2021

In 2021, ITAC met virtually and integrated with the Canadian MPRI project event. Topics included subsea mechanical dispersion, rapid dispersant field test kit, wildlife preparedness, the X-Press Pearl incident and surface VOC management. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2021 Presentations

ITAC 2020

In 2020 ITAC met virtually from Halifax Marine Science Hub and focused on health & safety moments, team virtual mechanics, Canada land statement and the MPRI research reviews. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2020 Presentations

ITAC 2019

In 2019 ITAC met at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, UK. The topics and themes were responder updates, National Academics of Sciences: Dispersant use report, low sulphur fuel oils, response research, impacts of ecotoxicology, next-generation response researchers and the future of ITAC. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2019 Presentations

ITAC 2018

In 2018 ITAC met at the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography Nova Southeastern University and focused on science & technology for rapid and effective response. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2018 Presentations

ITAC 2017

In 2017 ITAC met at Plymouth Marine Laboratory to discuss Bridging Science and Technology in Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. In 2017 ITAC focussed on industry and responder community updates, research programmes/reports, autonomous systems, impacts and monitoring, data handling and situational awareness and stakeholder engagement. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2017 Presentations

ITAC 2016

In 2016 ITAC met at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The theme of the forum was Bridging Science and Technology in Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. There were a wide range of topics focused on science that could be applied to oil spill preparedness and response and included the use of Underwater Autonomous Vehicles/Gliders, Fates of Deep Sea Plumes, Remote Sensing, Coral Toxicity, Subsea Dispersant Injection research, and more. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2016 Presentations

ITAC 2015

In 2015 ITAC was held at the French National Oceanographic Research Institute based in Brest, France. This meeting focussed on sharing knowledge and discussing technical matters of spill response and preparedness. It also gave a platform for industry, researchers, responders and other technical partners to present their experiences, challenges and opportunities in a non-commercial spirit of sharing good practice. To view all presentations, please use the link below...

Download 2015 Presentations