The “BIOZAÏRE” Program: A Multidisciplinary Environmental Study on the Equatorial African Margin—Application to Deep Sea Oil Field Developments

Jacques Miné, HSE Division -Environment Projects Department, TOTAL E&P, 24 Cours Michelet, 92069 Paris la Défense Cédex, France, phone: 33 (0) 1 41 35 28 61, fax: 33 (0) 1 41 35 69 83, jacques.mine@total.com, Myriam Sibuet, IFREMER, Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France, Lenaïck Menot, University of Occidental Brittany, IFREMER - Centre de Brest, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France, and Josiane Durrieu, TOTAL E&P -HSE Division-Environment Operations Department, CSTJF, Avenue Larribau, 64018 Pau, France.

The ecological characteristic of the Equatorial African margin (Angola, Gabon) is the existence of two additional major trophic sources: terrestrial deposits transported by the Zaïre River deltaic system and local sources issued from “cold seepages”. These sources generate the development of rich and complex deep-sea ecosystems with the special feature of benthic communities related to chemosynthetic processes.

These characteristics lead to develop the “BIOZAÏRE” research program, performed in a technical partnership between the French Oceanographic Centre (IFREMER) and TOTAL, in order to increase the reliability of the environmental studies performed in connection with the deep-sea oil fields developments in Angola.

The paper will present the program itself and its results with emphasis on:

• The elaboration of a reliable and reproducible methodology of sampling adapted to the size, the abundance and the natural variability of the fauna.

• The understanding of the structure and functioning of benthic communities to better identify a possible impact of the oil E&P activity and to measure the ability of the environment to return to the equilibrium after perturbation.

Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Development(DEG)
2005 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition (September 11-14, 2005) Technical Program