Environmental sustainability concerns the proper stewardship of the marine environment as oil and gas reserves are extracted and produced. The oil and gas industry’s overall environmental goals relate to three main reporting areas of:

• Atmospheric emissions – the UK is committed to achieving the target set out in the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% in the period 2008-12 (as an annual average) compared with 1990 emissions. The offshore oil and gas industry will continue to work towards reducing its contribution to UK greenhouse gas emissions.
• Marine discharges – the offshore industry’s goals are: to achieve a 15% reduction of oil-in-produced-water against a 2000 baseline by the end of 2006 (now met); to secure zero oil spills; to phase out the use of chemicals that are potentially harmful to the marine environment; to manage marine noise from exploration and production operations.
• Waste disposal/decommissioning – targets aim to ensure that the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) performance complies with appropriate OSPAR (Oslo-Paris Commission) legislation, and that all wastes (solids, liquids and gases) arising from offshore operations are disposed of in the most appropriate way – wherever possible, by the best practical environmental option.

The principle method used to chart the industry’s progress in meeting the environmental objectives is EEMS (Environmental Emissions Monitoring System) to which Oil & Gas UK members submit, on an annual basis, measured and calculated data on solid, liquid and gaseous emissions from offshore installations and associated onshore terminals.

There have been major improvements in environmental performance when compared with the early years of offshore oil and gas. Working in accordance with various pieces of legislation, targets have been achieved, and in some cases, exceeded – as in the case for the reduction of oil in produced water discharged to sea, secured through significant industry investment of time, effort and money. In fact, to date the UK oil and gas industry has invested over £450million to meet the OSPAR targets of oil in water with questions still being asked to the level of environmental benefit achieved for the large expenditure invested.

The UK is committed to meeting its international targets, particularly concerning atmospheric emissions, and is on track to meet its Kyoto target in 2008-12 of reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases by a collective average of 12.5% since 1990. However, the UK’s voluntary target of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2010 vs. 1990 looks to be unachievable. As the UK oil and gas province increasingly matures, emissions will tend to increase per unit of production, as more energy is required to access the remaining reserves. The emerging technology of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has high potential to be employed on the UKCS as a means of reducing CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. However, significant work remains to be done with this technology which is currently uneconomic. The government is holding a competition later in 2007 for a pilot scheme to be initiated.

Major work is being undertaken to minimise and manage our marine discharges. This includes work to comply with OSPAR legislation with, in particular, the use of chemicals potentially harmful to the marine environment being phased out, in favour of substitute chemicals with significantly lower environmental impacts. EEMS data show increases in the use of some chemicals; however, these have less of an impact on the marine environment than chemicals historically used for the same purpose.

Environmental Development Table