Power, poverty and sustainability - International Association for ...

• IAIA06 Abstracts Volume •
Paper Abstracts
CS 1.1 OIL AND GAS
Snøhvit –A Unique LNG Project in Northern Norway
Fossan, Bjørn; Statoil ASA, Forusbeen 50, 4035 Stavanger,
Norway. +47 91602180. bfos@statoil.com
The Snøhvit LNG project includes offshore development in the
Barents Sea, pipelines to shore, an onshore LNG plant and
shipment of products.
The project was approved by the Norwegian Parliament in
March 2002. The project is now under construction and
production start is planned to 2007.
The project is unique in many ways. It will be the world’s
northernmost LNG plant and the first LNG export facility in
Europe and utilizes new technologies. It will, i.e., be the first
project in the world where CO2 from the wellstream is
separated from the produced gas and reinjected.
The Snøhvit project represents a total investment near 10
billion Am. dollars (50 - 60 billion NOK). The project has
changed a serious declining trend in population development
regionally, to a positive trend. Local economic activities are
expanding. The whole attitude and setting in the Hammerfest
region is changed and now far more enthusiastic.
A “Follow-up project” focusing on social, local and regional
impacts has been initiated by Statoil in co-operation with the
Municipality of Hammerfest and Finnmark County. Results
from this project will be presented at the conference as well as
some main features of the LNG project.
Health Impact Assessment in the International Oil
and Gas Sector
Birley, Martin; Birley HIA, 44 Woodbines Ave., Kingston upon
Thames, Surrey KT1 2AY UK. +44(0)2085460823.
Martin@BirleyHIA.co.uk www.BirleyHIA.co.uk
Local communities that host very large industrial projects that
must inevitably receive major environmental, social, and
health impacts, unless these are very skillfully managed. Some
of the more enlightened multinational oil and gas producers
now recognise that their future business success depends on
integrated impact assessments and managed impacts. A
similar view is taken by some of the lending banks and is
enshrined in the Equator Principles and the safeguard
standards and policies of the International Finance
Corporation.
Multinational corporations may not undertake environmental,
social and health impact assessment in-house, as they may
not have the necessary skills. Instead, they use preferred
environmental contractors. The contractors usually do not
have the competence to undertake health impact assessment
and must subcontract. The subcontractors may be nationals of
the host country.
Challenges to achieving a good integrated impact assessment
include writing good Terms of Reference, using competent
contractors and subcontractors, communicating with
stakeholders, understanding stakeholder concerns, good
communication between the environmental, social, and health
teams, and acceptance of a similar principled approach by all
the project owners. Some of these challenges will be
illustrated based on recent field experience.
Environmental Impact Assessment for Oil
Industry in Sudan
Suliman, Widad; KTH, Teknikringen 78, Environmental
Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure, Stockholm,
100 44 Sweden. 0762526470. wedad43@hotmail.com
The Sudan is the largest country in Africa that covers a
vast expanse over the Saharan and sub-Saharan region
and extends 1000 miles east to west and 1200 miles
north to south.
Sudan has proven oil reserves totalling 563 million
barrels. Oil industry in Sudan is an important sector in
the country’ economy, as Sudan has three refineries and
imports both refined product and crude oil. But the
contribution of this oil field to GNP has never been
disclosed to the public, and neither have their negative
impacts on the environment.
With this huge oil reserve, the country should have high
GNP, but in fact Sudan ranks among the the 25 poorest
countries in the world.
Environmental impacts of oil industry have been given
special consideration. Therefore, environmental impact
assessment study has become a prequisite before the
establishing of any oil development project.
Environment impact assessments are usually carried out
on projects like the pipeline, but by their nature they
have not been conducted in compliance to health, safety
and environment. Furthermore, the EIA studies are not
effective instruments to reduce or mitigate
environmental impacts of oil industry in Sudan.
An Oil and Gas Industry Project Lifecycle
Approach to Risk and Impact Management
Witchalls, Ben; BP plc, Maddox Farm, Little Bookham
Street, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT23 3BU UK. ++44 1932
739 409. witcb1@bp.com
Finney, Rob; BP plc.
OGP ESIA Taskforce
The international community is demanding increasingly
rigorous environmental and social performance of
planned developments by international operators. It is
recognised by the International Association of Oil & Gas
Producers (OGP) that sharing of experience through
‘lessons-learned’ would provide a means to achieve
consistency in the delivery of high quality environmental
and social impact management processes.
The OGP ESIA Integration in Projects Taskforce has
twelve active company members. They have created an
industry resource facilitating the attainment of a
consistently high standard by all operators, aligned with
international expectations. The aim is to add both
technical value and to facilitate interactions with
stakeholders and third parties. Given the diversity of
project specifics, company internal processes, local
environmental sensitivities etc., the approach offers a
high degree of flexibility in its application.
Environmental, Social, Health, Risk and Impact
Management Process (E-shrimp) is a “Toolbox” based on
agreed “good practice.” There is a strong focus on value
added by starting early and making use of the existing
project decision making process. It maps key
environmental and social management activities with
project activities, defining deliverables and checklists at
each project stage. This is seen to offer greater potential
than a more rigid process.
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