Environmental Report 1999 Index

Next Section

President's Foreword I am very pleased to introduce the second annual Environmental Report by the UK Offshore Operators' Association (UKOOA). Last year, we published the UK offshore oil and gas industry's first collective Environmental Report covering data for the 1997 calendar year; this year we cover the 1998 calendar year. This was in line with our commitment to become more transparent and open to the society within which, and on whose behalf, our members operate. Last year's report established a base line against which our industry's future environmental data can be measured. This year, UKOOA's Council has dedicated more time to environmental issues in 1999 than to any other area of its business and this has been reflected in the time devoted to this subject throughout the industry. You will see from the report that we have adopted a set of principles that will guide our interactions with the Government as it establishes a new regulatory regime. You will also read that our member companies have made commitments in a number of areas related to environmental performance. The areas where these commitments have been made, in reporting, produced water and unclassified chemicals - have all seen improvements this year. The report also demonstrates the depth of research that our member companies undertake to gain a full understanding of the environment within the field of their operations. This research is carried out both before and during operations, and some of the more intriguing results are included here. In last year's report, as this year, we provided a form to allow readers to communicate their views about our industry. Many people took the opportunity to reply last year and we have responded to their feedback. In particular, their comments confirmed our decision to report emissions and discharges in more detail and to provide more information about their environmental impacts. However, we have not been able to meet all of the suggestions made in response to last year's publication. Some were beyond our remit, but we hope to incorporate other relevant ideas in the future as we strive continually to improve the quality of our reporting and the transparency of our business. I hope that, over the next few years, we will find other ways to demonstrate how our research has led both to unsurpassed knowledge of the environment and to responsible environmental stewardship. It is this stewardship that allows us to bring indisputable benefits to each and every member of our society. Our industry is constantly responding to technological and economic challenges. In doing so today, as we have done for the last 25 years, we provide significant employment across the United Kingdom, not just in Scotland as is often thought to be the case. Our latest figures estimate over 300,000 people owe their living directly or indirectly to the UK's offshore oil and gas industry. The industry also makes a huge contribution to the UK economy; and ensures that, like few other countries, the UK has secure energy supplies independent of the uncertainties of international markets and, to a large extent, politics. At the same time, we contribute to an international energy supply, by exporting nearly 53million tonnes of oil extracted from the ground in, we believe, an extremely environmentally sensitive way. Perhaps most importantly we provide the raw materials for many of the products that underpin the high standard of living enjoyed by most people in the UK and without which our quality of life would be poorer. We know that there has to be a balance between, on the one hand, the benefits society derives from our products and, on the other, the environmental consequences of obtaining them from beneath the inhospitable waters of the North Sea and the Atlantic Margin. While we make every effort to minimise the impacts of our activities, we can only go on providing these benefits if society understands and accepts that there is a balance between the need to protect our heritage and the need to maintain or advance our prosperity. This report describes the efforts we are making to achieve a high standard of environmental performance while carrying out our core business - finding and producing the oil and gas that Britain needs now and in the future. It also demonstrates that we take our responsibilities seriously and that we are conscientious guardians of our common inheritance, the environment. Bob Connon President, UKOOA