[01] Frank Gordon Kirkwood, Independent Scholar (Petroleum Engineering), Belize City, Belize.

Belize has a “nature based” economy and its marine resources, particularly the Belize Barrier Reef System and its accompanying Atolls (recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site), serve as a major tourist attraction. Tourism is the country’s number one foreign exchange earner, however the Government of Belize has in the past granted oil concessions over significant portions of the country’s marine areas (both shallow coastal areas and offshore deepwater) without regard for national parks, marine reserves and other protected areas. Despite a recent ban on offshore oil exploration activity in Belize’s World Heritage sites - with a one kilometre buffer zone - there is still the threat that offshore oil industry activities outside the banned areas can be damaging to the environment. This paper looks at the oil spill risk that oil exploration activity poses to the environment, and determines – for Belize – a recommended buffer zone size between oil exploration activity and environmentally protected areas based on a number of factors.

Oil, Exploration, Environment, Offshore, Buffer Zone, Drilling

[01] “An Environmental Agenda for Belize 2008-2013”; Belize Audubon Society; April 2008. [02] Geology and Petroleum Department, Government of Belize (Map downloaded from website http://estpu.gov.bz/index.php/geology-petroleum) [03] “Last two offshore oil contracts expire, as Belize looks to onshore oil”; Amandala Newspaper 24^th December 2015; http://amandala.com.bz/news/offshore-oil-contracts-expire-belize-onshore-oil/ [04] “Government of Belize Bans Offshore Oil Exploration in and Around All Seven World Heritage Sites”; Belize Press Office Press Release; 1^st December 2015. [05] National Protected Areas Secretariat, Ministry of Forestry Fisheries and Sustainable Development (Map downloaded from website http://protectedareas.gov.bz/education-awareness/) [06] UNESCO World Heritage Sites (http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/belizebarrierreef.html) [07] Map from the Belize branch of the Wildlife Conservation Society. [08] Central Bank of Belize Monthly Report December 2014; Table 2.1: Value of Domestic Exports (https://www.centralbank.org.bz/publications-research/economic-publications/monthly-economic-reports) [09] World Travel and Tourism Council, Belize 2015 Report; Page 12; Visitor Exports (http://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/countries%202015/belize2015.pdf) [10] “National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling - Report to the President”, January 2011 ISBN: 978-0-16-087371-3. [11] Email “Water Currents”, John Borland (Commandant Belize Coastguard) to Trisha Garcia (Oceana Belize Intern), 21 June 2011 [Unpublished data]. [12] “Building and Effective Oil Spill Response Mechanism for Belize - Obligations Threats and Challenges”; Major Lloyd Jones (ret); October 2010. [13] Clean Caribbean and Americas website http://cleancaribbean.org/ [14] BP Press Release “BP Initiates Response to Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill” 22nd April 2010. [15] Email “RE: Belize - Clean Caribbean Inquiry”, Skip Przelomski (VP and Senior Technical Advisor, Clean Caribbean) to Frank Gordon Kirkwood (the Author), 5th April 2012 [Unpublished data].