Friday 21 May 1999

Offshore Oil and Gas Industry Relaunches Web Site

The UK offshore oil and gas industry has re-launched its web site with a new design to provide easier access to information about one of this countrys great industrial success stories.

Available at www.oilandgas.org.uk, the web site is managed by the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA), the representative body for oil and gas companies licensed to operate in British waters. It contains a wealth of facts about the production of hydrocarbons offshore, and addresses key industry issues such as the environment, health and safety and the Year 2000 computer date problem.

For nearly forty years, this industry has operated in one of the harshest and most challenging offshore environments in the world to supply our country with the natural resources that underpin so much in our daily lives, says UKOOAs web site manager, Fiona Hamilton. The advances in science and technology have been huge allowing UK fields to produce 2,306 million tonnes of oil and 1,311 billion cubic metres of gas in total to date. This sector earns the UK economy valuable export and tax revenues and employs an estimated 380,000 people across the country.

The web site has been designed to make these facts more accessible to the general public, with new sections for the media, government officials and politicians. The education pages are specifically geared towards the differing needs of teachers and young people. For teachers there are samples and reviews of resources to support curriculum delivery while the student information pages are structured to help develop the individuals research skills, she adds.

Created for UKOOA by the Big Oxford Computer Company (BOCC), the web site will be constantly updated as news and developments break in the £17 billion industry. The site will also feature a daily news ticker service, provided by the electronic industry publisher IINoil.

For further information, please contact:

For more information, please call 020 7802 2400.