Environmental Report 1999 Index

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Conclusions The modern oil industry was established 140 years ago. It is now an integral part of our society, not an industry that can be abolished or substituted without considerable damage to society, as some would claim. With this integration has come a growing sense of responsibility on the Industry's part to conduct its operations with the minimum damage to the environment that is the common heritage and home of all of us, including those who work in the Industry. All industries depend on natural resources - not just oil and gas but minerals, timber, water, the air we breathe - and all industries create emissions and waste. At the same time, they provide the vast range of products that support our society as it is today. While it is perhaps possible that we could elect to return to a civilisation without drastic shortages of heat, light and power, with severe constraints on all forms of transport, without plastics and some life-saving drugs, there are no signs that people are willing to do this. Indeed, many countries are striving to provide their citizens with these benefits even as a few people in more developed countries appear to reject them. What is possible is to balance society's need for sophisticated manufactured articles with the environmental impacts that result from their production. For most of this century, that has not been an issue because societies have been concerned only with the employment and wealth represented by natural resources. In recent years more and more people have become concerned about the impact that industrial activities have on the environment. In response, businesses have recognised that they have a responsibility not just to their shareholders but to their 'stakeholders' - their employees, customers and suppliers, people living near their factories or plants and, most generally, the public. In particular, they recognise a responsibility to preserve and protect the environment. Finding and producing oil and gas is an industrial process that, inevitably, has an impact on the environment. Oil companies operating in UK waters have worked steadily for a number of years to reduce those impacts, and their efforts are reflected in this report. The industry's support for environmental research and development, and its commitment to a set of principles governing its behaviour in respect of the environment, are further evidence of its willingness to take seriously its responsibilities in a stakeholder society. In this new society, UKOOA and its member companies are happy to work with concerned groups to achieve an equitable balance between energy production and environmental performance. However, 'working together' requires co-operation and mutual agreement to pursue a common goal. The process will fail if hidden agendas or non-negotiable positions are brought to the table. One hundred and forty years ago, on 27 August, 1859, 'Colonel' Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well at Titusville, Pennsylvania, and launched what has been called the "Hydrocarbon Society". Today, although other influences (for example, computers) have become important, we still live in a society mainly reliant on oil and gas. That will be so unless until alternatives are found capable of supplying energy to meet all the demands of society that oil and gas currently deliver. Until then, the challenge is to balance the need to maintain the benefits of the Hydrocarbon Society with the need to preserve the environment - so that future generations can enjoy both.