5 Environmental Impacts
96. DECC told us that there is a "robust regime"
of environmental protection measures in place to minimise the
impact of oil and gas production, much of it developed at a European
level. It is also the Government's policy to implement and apply
all OSPAR[120] Commission
decisions and recommendations.[121]
This regime, the Department told us
Covers oil and gas development throughout its
life cycle, from the initial licence application to the final
decommissioning of facilities … All activities that could
potentially impact on the environment are subject to rigorous
assessment, and significant activities are controlled through
the issue of permits, consents or authorisations. There is also
an inspection and enforcement regime in place to confirm compliance
with the conditions included in the environmental approvals.[122]
97. There are a number of key elements to the regime:
- A Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA) is carried out before oil and gas licensing
is undertaken. These assessments consider the effects of offshore
oil and gas activity at a strategic level and are publicly consulted
upon. Licences may be withheld if there is not enough evidence
to judge the likely impact of the activity being assessed, or
if mitigation of adverse impacts is not feasible.
- Once the SEA has been completed operators applying
for licences are required to have, or undertake to develop an:
Environmental Management System (EMS), which is "designed
to achieve the prevention and elimination of pollution from offshore
sources; the protection and conservation of the maritime area
against other adverse effects of offshore activities; and continual
improvement in environmental performance"[123];
and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
which has to specify the environmental sensitivities of the area
for which a licence is sought.
- Specific projects need to have assessments undertaken
under the aegis of relevant legislation, such as the Offshore
Petroleum Production and Pipelines (Assessment of Environmental
Effects) Regulations 1999 and the Offshore Petroleum Activities
(Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001.
- Assessments are also required for any activity
which might have an adverse affect on the environment, such as
the use and discharge of chemicals and/or oil; seismic and other
survey activity; and atmospheric emissions.
- An approved Oil Pollution Emergency Plan is required
for each offshore installation.
- The industry has to adhere to non-sectoral environmental
legislation which applies to all marine activities, and not just
to oil and gas.[124]
98. Oil & Gas UK acknowledged this regime and
told us that "oil and gas exploration and production on the
UKCS is one of the most tightly regulated sectors, subject to
over 100 pieces of environmental legislation spanning a broad
range of issues." [125]
Individual companies gave us examples of the environmental work
they are undertaking:
Shell is spending between £1m and £1.5m
per annum on environmental surveys in the vicinity of its producing
installations …Surveys have revealed little or no significant
long-term negative impact of our oil and gas operations on the
indigenous flora and fauna. We believe that existing regulatory
requirements, including Environmental Impact Assessment of new
projects and discharge limits, have worked well to minimise the
environmental impact of the oil and gas industry.[126]
Total E&P takes its impact on the environment
very seriously and invests substantially in improving its performance
both offshore and onshore. Over £23 million has been spent
on produced water reinjection, energy consumption has been reduced
by up to 20% at some sites and there is a successful recycling
and waste reduction programme in place.…The company acknowledges
the importance of and observes regulatory obligations but would
like to see greater substantiation and proof of benefit for some
legislation prior to expensive implementation. This is a point
raised with former government departments through Oil and Gas
UK.[127]
99. The latter point made by Total E&P about
the expense of implementing legislation of questionable benefit
was also made by the Oil and Gas Independents' Association. It
told us that
The UK already has one of the most highly environmentally
regulated hydrocarbon provinces in the world. Whilst we should
continue to mandate adherence to high environmental standards
and practices, we should also bear in mind that we cannot unduly
burden the industry to achieve standards significantly in excess
of other areas. Adherence comes at a cost, both financial and
also in terms of leaving undeveloped and unrecovered hydrocarbons
in the ground. Every barrel of oil or cubic foot of gas that cannot
be extracted from the UK will have to be imported from an area
where such environmental standards will likely not apply. We should
take care not to simply shift the problem elsewhere whilst at
the same time reducing our security of supply.[128]
100. While we understand the concern that environmental
legislation should be proportionate and not impose unreasonable
burdens, we note that, when asked in oral evidence how much of
a factor environmental regulations were when deciding whether
to invest, and whether UK requirements are so stringent that companies
move elsewhere, the Oil and Gas Independents' Association replied:
No, I do not think so, because once you know
the rules you know what your operating environment is so it will
not put off companies, because it is very straightforward to operate
within those guidelines - it is being a responsible citizen.[129]
101. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Countryside
Council for Wales, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage
told the Committee that "the current framework of regulatory
control is generally good with most advice provided by the statutory
nature conservation agencies being heeded".[130]
However, they said that operators' compliance with the EIA process
had "scope for improvement" and that some operators
indicated that best practice mitigation measures would be followed
but that, once a project had been approved, had not delivered
on commitments. They argued that operators should have to be more
specific in their Environmental Statements and that "the
Offshore Inspectorate within DECC should be able to check these
commitments during inspections and ensure that there is regulatory
compliance. Currently, we do not think that the Offshore Inspectorate
is provided with enough project-specific information to be able
to effectively check compliance with approval consents."[131]
102. The Oil and Gas Independents' Association did
not think that companies were avoiding their environmental obligations[132]
and the Minister told us that
We have a number of means by which we ensure
that we [ensure companies meet their environmental obligations]….
They are subject to licensing conditions as to how they can carry
out their work and we have got control over the terms on which
licences are issued. They will normally ensure that they not only
comply with those but that they are able to show that they will
decommission, because that is where we get many of the problems
around environmental issues. We have 40 environmental statements,
six appropriate assessments under the Habitats Directive and 40
screening and scoping documents currently reviewed, around 3,000
permits issued around chemical use and oil discharge permits,
drilling approvals and permits under the EU Integrated Pollution
and Control and Emissions Trading Directives. We investigated
and examined problems around 386 oil spill plans, so they plan
what they do when there is an oil spill and we have to approve
their plans. We conduct inspections and investigations of the
various projects both onshore and offshore. There were 55 inspections
done last year to check whether the various kit is performing
at the standard that environmentally is adequate. We report cases
where there have been breaches to the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland.
Since 1998 we have reported 11 incidents to the Procurator Fiscal
resulting in nine prosecutions. There are issues around spillage.
Let me give you some figures. There are about 366 million tonnes
of oil which has been produced between 2002 and 2005. During the
same period 362 tonnes of oil was spilt. This equates to
0.00009 per cent. That is a pretty good record.[133]
103. While the industry's environmental record overall
is impressive there are particular concerns about the possible
effects of developing fields west of Shetland. The RSPB told us
that unlocking resources there could have adverse effects on Scotland's
marine environment and recommended that certain sensitive areas
be excluded from future rounds of licensing, including the area
around St Kilda and the Hebrides. They told us that available
data on seabirds in the area west of Shetland is old and limited
and called (more generally and not just in relation to west of
Shetland) for sustained environmental surveys of marine wildlife,
including seabirds.[134]
They also told us that, while there was a lack of systematic,
sustained and comprehensive surveying of marine wildlife, there
were specific areas of research underway into certain areas, funded
by DECC, as part of the SEA process. However, the RSPB found it
difficult to assess these exercises as there was no publicly available
research plan.[135]
104. The oil and gas industry is subject to an
array of environmental regulations and its track record of adhering
to them is impressive. There are concerns, however, about the
potential effect of intensive activity west of Shetland. The Government
should instigate and fund a comprehensive survey of the marine
environment and its wildlife west of Shetland; more generally
it should work with the industry to facilitate a systematic and
ongoing plan of surveys of marine wildlife to fill the gaps left
by earlier surveys of the UKCS area.
105. We note the concern raised with us that some
companies commit to adhere to environmental best practice but
then do not do so once licenses are issued. In the absence of
specific evidence that this has happened we are not in a position
to judge whether this a widespread problem, or even a sporadic
one. We encourage those with concerns about where this might have
happened to raise them with DECC and we would expect such claims
to be investigated fully.
120 Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of
the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic Back
121
Ev 70, para 32 Back
122
Ibid, para 33 Back
123
Ev 71, para 37 Back
124
Ev 70-71, paras 35-44 Back
125
Ev 113, para 3.7.1 Back
126
Ev 132, paras 20-21 Back
127
Ev 135, para 2 Back
128
Ev 103, para 2.1 Back
129
Q 63 Back
130
Ev 91, para 1 Back
131
Ev 92, para 4.1-3 Back
132
Q 62 Back
133
Q 215 Back
134
Ev 121, paras 21-22 Back
135
Q 85 Back
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