In its full form, RECSO spells the Regional Clean Sea Organisation. As the title clearly indicates, RECSO is an oil industry co-operative organisation functioning on the concept of "mutual aid".
RECSO was officially set up in 1972 by 13 founder members. The oil companies in the region at that time recognised a need for collective response to major oil pollution incidents and thus came together to achieve a common objective - protecting the Gulf's resources from oil pollution.
In addition to arrangements for mutual aid in times of oil spill emergencies, provision was also made for reimbursement of costs incurred by member companies in responding to oil spills originating from another member's installation or facilities.
Today,
though the original objective of the organisation - oil spill response through
mutual aid - remains the same, the circumstances in which the oil industry operations
are conducted these days are significantly different from the conditions that
prevailed in the period from 1972 to 1990. It was against this changed background
that RECSO has had to expand its activities in a more pro-active direction.
The prime responsibility of RECSO today is to protect the marine environment in the Gulf from oil pollution emanating from operations of RECSO member oil companies in the region. Each member oil company shares the responsibility of ensuring a long-term commitment to the "Clean Gulf" concept. RECSO recognises this pledge and co-ordinates efforts towards meeting this challenge.
The RECSO vision is to:
Achieve "Clean Gulf" environment in the regional sea;
Prevention of operational oil spill;
Stoppage of tanker discharges;
Safety on ships leading to cleaner seas; and
Total stoppage of industrial waste discharge to sea.
The key components of the RECSO organisational structure are:
The Operators Committee;
The Executive Committee;
The Technical Committee ; and
The Technical Secretariat.
The Operators Committee is the governing body of RECSO comprising one representative from each member company. The function of this committee is to decide the overall RECSO policy, agree and approve RECSO schedule of activities and its annual budget.
The Executive Committee is the executive arm of RECSO comprising five member nominees, including the chairman, on a rotational basis. This committee supervises the running of the organisation between annual meetings, besides ensuring the implementation of the Operators Committee decisions and recommendations.
The Technical Committee was introduced in 1987 comprising technical experts nominated by members as and when required. It assists the Executive Committee on specific technical projects and provides speciality services.
The Technical Secretariat is the operational arm of RECSO and its nerve centre where all RECSO activities are co-ordinated.
Organise joint response to oil pollution by member companies;
Promote and develop member companies' basic spill response capabilities;
Provide central core information to member oil companies particularly during oil pollution emergencies;
Provide technical support for member companies on information to emerging technologies relating to oil spill prevention and response, develop technical reports, organise workshops, seminar and introduction of key international players through regional conferences.