Wednesday 25 October 2000

UKOOA Response to Energy Minister’s Statement on Habitats Directive Consultation and 19th Licensing Round

Todays statement by the Energy Minister Helen Liddell regarding the launch of a three month consultation on the potential environmental impact of oil and gas activity in the area between the Shetland and Faroe Islands, together with the imminent announcement of the opening of the 19th Offshore Licensing Round, has been warmly welcomed by the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA).

UKOOAs Director General James May said: These announcements will help to remove the uncertainty surrounding the development of the North East Atlantic as a potential future source of oil and gas to maintain this countrys energy supply and protect the 270,000 employed by the Industry.

The area represents a significant opportunity for hydrocarbon exploration and is one in which the UK offshore oil and gas industry has already invested heavily in state of the art seismic and other remote sensing techniques.

Despite the areas complex geology and its challenging water depths and weather conditions, there is considerable interest from offshore operators, particularly as the North Sea enters maturity.

The UK offshore oil and gas industry takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the marine environment. Through the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN), the sector has invested more than £5 million in research which has significantly improved scientific knowledge of the Atlantic to the north west of Scotland and enhanced industry environmental practice.

The Industry looks forward to contributing positively to the consultation and to a speedy outcome.

Note to Editors

1. The UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) is the representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry. Its 30 members are licensed by the British Government to explore for and produce hydrocarbons in UK waters.

Regulation

2. New offshore developments have always required approval from the Department of Trade and Industry. Companies applying for production licences are expected to provide Government with copies of their company environmental policy, environmental management systems and an assessment of the environmental areas to be explored in their applications.

3. In April 1998 new regulations implementing the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (85/337/EEC) to offshore oil and gas activities on the UKCS came into effect. The Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipelines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1998 require offshore operators to produce an Environmental Statement (ES) for every new exploration and appraisal well, every new production platform and any new development on existing platforms.

4. An Environmental Statement makes a full assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with a particular activity and demonstrates that appropriate environmental management systems are in place. They also provide for greater public access to information and decisions.

5. Many operators were routinely carrying out such assessments on a voluntary basis before the regulations were introduced.

Oil and Gas Industry Activity in the North Atlantic

6. The oil and gas Industry has been active in the North Atlantic for over 25 years; almost 150 exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled to date. The area is estimated to hold 1.5 billion barrels of potentially recoverable reserves of oil, the equivalent of 5% of all UK oil discoveries to date.

7. The region is the focus of substantial collaboration between companies to assess the impact on the marine environment of current and future exploration activity. The Industry is spending millions of pounds on a number of independent research projects, including one of the worlds most comprehensive cetaceans monitoring programmes and the survey of more than 30,000 sq km of seabed (an area larger than Belgium). The findings are being used to shape industry environmental management systems and are monitored by an independently chaired environmental consultative body, AFEF (The Atlantic Frontier Environment Forum). The Forum comprises oil companies, environmental organisations, academics, government and fishermens groups.

For more information, please call 020 7802 2400.