Full colour version of the BP magazine

+
18 CLASS ACT
Bringing science
to life in schools
THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE BP GROUP ISSUE 1 2009
BPMAGAZINE
38 SPOTLIGHT: BUSINESS IN BRAZIL
28 OCEAN JEWEL
Latest shipping
fleet launched
48 TOP MODEL
Predicting the
future of climate
SWEET
HARVEST
With strong positions in jet fuels and lubricants
and a growing biofuels business, BP’s Brazilian
business is reaping rewards. BP Magazine reports
from the South American country.

Welcome. Inspiration is a powerful tool. It can
instil great passion in people, and drive them to
achieve remarkable things. In many cases, that first
taste of inspiration comes from a teacher. In the UK,
interest in science at school has declined in recent
years, leading to concerns of a skills shortage in
industries dependent on those subjects. On page 18,
we find out about a BP-supported programme – aptly
entitled Project Enthuse – designed to help science
teachers reverse that trend, while a look at climate
modelling on page 48, advances in seismic
technology on page 8 and the innovation behind BP
Shipping’s latest fleet featured on page 28 are all
perfect examples of how inspired thought helps
drive the energy industry.
Lisa Davison> Editor
contributors>
NINA MORGAN
worked as an
exploration geologist
for seven years before
turning to freelance
science writing. She
now specialises in
writing about all
branches of science
and technology.
BP MAGAZINE
The international magazine of the BP Group – ISSUE 1 2009
BP Magazine is published quarterly for external readers around the
world, as well as past and present BP employees. Its contents do not
necessarily reflect official company views.
The copyright for photographs and illustrations in BP Magazine is not
always owned by BP. Please contact BP Photographic Services for details.
managing editor
Barbara Peen
peenb@bp.com
editor
Lisa Davison
lisa.davison@uk.bp.com
distribution
Carolyn Copland
+44 (0) 20 7496 4340
© BP p.l.c., 2009
STUART CONWAY’S
all time favourite
photographic subject
was a dazzling male
Tufted Coquette
hummingbird whilst
on assignment in
Trinidad.
design
Phil Steed – Steed Design
phil@steeddesign.com
www.steeddesign.com
print management
Williams Lea
image contributors
BP Imageshop
Debut Art
iStockphoto
Jupiter Images Unlimited
DAVID LYTTLETON
is a freelance
illustrator from
Newcastle-Under-
Lyme, Staffordshire. He
contributes to many
publications,including
a weekly Guardian
column.
contents / issue 1 2009
+ Features
10 Mega achievement The story behind Azerbaijan’s
‘contract of the century’. By Helen Campbell
Photography by BP Imageshop
18 Enthusiastic approach The education
programme designed to help teachers inspire a new
generation of scientists. By Hester Thomas
Photography by National Science Learning Centre
24 Ethical values How BP’s compliance and ethics
agenda is meeting the very highest expectations.
By Lisa Davison Illustration by Serge Seidlitz
28 Precious cargo The new class of liquefied natural
gas vessels adding a touch of sparkle to the high seas. By
Nick Reed Photography by Stuart Conway
Cover story
38 Brazilian beauty Interest in Brazil is on the rise
with growth in tourism and businesses. BP is poised to
tap into that growth thanks to a strong presence in jet
fuels, a well-established lubricants business and a new
biofuels venture. BP Magazine visits the country to learn
more about this sleeping giant. By Paula Kolmar
Photography by Marc Morrison
48 All change Climate modelling is an increasingly
useful tool in understanding the Earth’s climate and
scientists at Princeton are leading the way. By Nina Morgan
Photography by NOAA
52 Looking East A new BP-supported exhibition has
begun travelling around the UK giving insight into Chinese
history and culture. By Hester Thomas
Photography from the Trustees of the British Museum
58 Interactive energy How a new BP website aims to
help individuals better understand their carbon footprint,
while offering tips to reduce it. By Helen Campbell
+ Regulars
04 For the record A snapshot of BP news and statistics
from around the world.
06 The Big Issue The Met Office discusses the
challenges and opportunities of using climate models.
Illustration by David Lyttleton
07 BP Faces BP Australia’s national barista champion
makes the perfect coffee. Photography by Bill Bachman
08 Science made simple The technology helping BP
‘see’ through salt. By Nic Welsh. Illustration by Magic Torch
36 Viewpoint Music students gather for a very special
performance. By Lisa Davison Photography by Richard Davies
57 Factfile A look at a few ‘firsts’ from BP Shipping.
62 Archive Revisiting BP’s connections with China
through the past century. Photography by BP Archive
66 Parting shot: Freeze frame Capturing an Afro-
Brazilian artform in full flow.

18
24
52
34 Ship to shore
The British Ruby is one
of four new Gem class
vessels to take to the
high seas, delivering
liquefied natural gas
around the world.

For the record Highlights
the quarter
in numbers
4.1MW
The amount of energy
now produced by solar
installations on US
Wal-Mart roofs
$4
The cost per watt of
crystalline silicon
modules – used in
solar panels – in 2008
500 million
The total number of
barrels of Caspian oil
that had passed
through Ceyhan
terminal, Turkey, by
December 2008
6
The number of
consecutive years that
BP has been the top
bunker fuel supplier
in Singapore
04 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
US
Canada
from around the globe > Winter 2009
Ireland
UK
France
Portugal
Spain
Italy
Germany
Greece
Russia
Russia: Board appointments
The former chancellor of
the Federal Republic of
Germany, Gerhard
Schröder, has agreed to join
the restructured board of
TNK-BP, as one of three
independent directors. His
fellow independents will be
James Leng, the chairman
designate of Rio Tinto, and
Alexander Shokhin,
On board: former chancellor of the
Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard
Schröder, has joined the TNK-BP board.
Libya
president of the Russian
Union of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs. BP and Alfa-
Access-Renova (AAR) have
agreed to appoint the three
directors to avoid the risk of
deadlock between the 50:50
owners of the joint venture.
Welcoming the new
appointment, BP chief
executive Tony Hayward
China
Turkey
India
Singapore
said: “The counsel of such a
distinguished statesman,
who brings both enormous
geopolitical experience and
a history of strong
relationships with Russia,
gives me particular
confidence that the next
chapter in the progress of
TNK-BP will be good for all
shareholders and for Russia.”

UK
Trading up
Alcohol, confectionery and
non-food sales led the way
as BP’s UK convenience
stores reported a successful
Christmas trading period.
Like for like sales were up
5% for the three-week
period over Christmas and
New Year for the 250-strong
estate of BP Connect and
Express stores.
US
Changing guard
Lamar McKay has been
appointed chairman and
president of BP America Inc
and will serve as BP’s chief
representative in the US. He
succeeds Bob Malone, who
has elected to retire after 34
years with the company.
McKay has led the
company’s special projects
team since early 2008. In
that capacity, he played a
major role in establishing
the new governance model
for TNK-BP.
US
Thunderous success
Production has begun from
the third and fourth wells
at the Thunder Horse field
in the Gulf of Mexico, with
production now in excess
of 200,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day,
signalling the completion
of commissioning and
commencement of full
operation.
China
Clean technologies
BP and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS)
have agreed to establish
the Clean Energy
Commercialisation Centre
(CECC) in Shanghai, jointly
investing $73 million to
commercialise Chinese
clean energy technologies.
The centre will draw on the
expertise and experience of
both partners to integrate
individual energy-related
technologies – such as coal
gasification and conversion.
UK
Asset exchange
BP and BG Group have
agreed to exchange a
package of North Sea assets
to help strengthen BP’s
position as a major
operator in the southern
North Sea, and facilitate
development activity and
investment in the UK
continental shelf.
Libya
Onshore start-up
BP’s Libyan exploration
project has begun a 13,000
square kilometre (5,000
square miles) seismic
acquisition programme in
the deserts of Libya’s
Ghadames basin. According
to Jens Pace, BP North Africa
exploration director, the
survey is unique in that it
involves the first full
deployment anywhere in
the world of a new, cuttingedge
BP proprietary seismic
technique known as
‘Integrated Simultaneous
Sweeping’ (ISS). BP believes
ISS will mark a step-change
in productivity in land
seismic acquisition,
compared to more
conventional methods used
elsewhere in the industry.
Top 10
Most attractive
countries for
renewable
investment
1. US
2. Germany
3. India
4. China
4. Spain
6. UK
7. Italy
8. Canada
9. France
10. Portugal
10. Greece
10. Ireland
Source: Ernst & Young Q1-Q2 2008
mailbox
Safe talking
I was fascinated to read the story about
former astronaut Jim Wetherbee and
how he applies his experiences of flying
in space to help keep BP people safe on
the ground. His passion for safety came
across loud and clear, and his pleasure at
working for BP was obvious.
Helmer Ruyter, Germany
Memory lane
Your interview with the BP archivist
made me wonder whether the magazine
will be celebrating BP’s centenary year?
Ann Ross, Spain
Ed’s reply: this year marks BP’s 100th
anniversary and the next edition of BP
Magazine will look back at some of the
company’s highlights.
Russian reaction
As you say in your recent article about
TNK-BP, last year’s struggle to reach
boardroom agreement about the future
direction of the company was high
profile. As a result of the coverage, I was
often asked about it, so it was helpful to
find all the facts and figures clearly laid
out and emphasising the positive side of
the partnership in a way I could
understand and explain to others.
Huw Griffin, UK
Kind words
As a contractor at BP Sunbury, I would
like to comment on the excellent
coverage of ‘all things BP’ in your
magazine. Its broad range of subjects
keeps you interested in BP’s operations.
In addition, I like the layout changes,
with the modern look and feel reflecting
BP’s forward-thinking values.
Dave Hill, UK
■ If you have any comments about BP Magazine
then please send them to: bpmagazine@bp.com or
BP Magazine, Bldg 200, Chertsey Road,
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, TW16 7LN, UK
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 05

The Big Issue
CLIMATE MODELS: FORECASTING THE FUTURE
Climate models increasingly help us understand
the reasons behind climate change and what might
happen in the future. Scientists
from the Met Office discuss the
benefit of having this knowledge.
Climate is something different from
weather. The difference is often
described as climate being the kind
of weather patterns you might expect, while
weather is the conditions you get on any
given day. However, both need complex
computer models to make predictions.
There is considerable scientific evidence
that the world’s climate is changing and
that we are responsible for most of the recent
acceleration in warming. Climate models help us
understand the causes of climate change and provide
the means to assess a range of likely future changes. For
example, we know some change is inevitable; but we
need to know how sensitive the climate is to greenhouse
gases so we can adapt to those variations. Climate
projections will also help identify changes which are
avoidable if we act to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Because the Earth’s climate is highly complex, huge
supercomputers are needed to make these kinds of
projections. Our climate models represent the physical,
chemical and biological processes of the atmosphere, ocean, and
biosphere, and how each system reacts with the others.
Mathematical equations are solved by a computer programme on
a 3D lattice of grid points which cover the globe. Such a ‘virtual
Earth’ is used for experiments to examine the effects of different
influences – both human-induced and naturally occurring – to
explain the causes of past climate changes, and make future
projections under different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions.
Limited projections
As in every field of science, there are uncertainties in climate
projections. Much is still not known about how the climate system
works: for instance, we have an incomplete understanding of icesheet
dynamics and so, therefore, we are uncertain about the rates
at which glaciers will melt and slide into the sea. Projections are
also limited by available computing resources, which restricts the
number and detail of the processes that can be represented.
In spite of the limitations of computer power, we are steadily
improving our understanding of the atmosphere and its
interactions with the ocean and biosphere. In the 1970s, carbon
dioxide concentrations, their warming impact and rain were
included in climate models, but not the effect of clouds. Nor did
those models capture the interactions of the atmosphere with the
ocean and biosphere. Today’s state-of-the-art models include a far
more complete and interactive treatment of clouds and aerosols,
as well the coupling of the atmosphere to oceans and ecosystems.
Further research will see this improvement continue.
More sophisticated models are starting to include more of the
detailed chemistry of the carbon cycle, enabling the modeller to
06 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
consider whether plants, soils and oceans will absorb less carbon
as warming continues. Future computer models will include
refined atmospheric processes and a wider range of feedback
mechanisms that may contribute to climate change.
These models enable projections of future climate and the
investigation of reasons for changes in the geological past
(paleoclimate). As information from geological observations fills
in the picture, models of the atmosphere are constrained and
improved. If the aim is to assess vulnerabilities to climate change
and prepare for changes in general, climate models can only go so
far. The spatial or temporal resolution required for certain
assessments may be finer than the models can currently resolve,
and interpreting the results in the context of the application still
presents a significant scientific challenge.
Added benefits
However, climate modelling is not exclusively reserved for policy
guidance. The Met Office Hadley Centre climate model
(HadGEM3) is unique in using the same basic model for weather
forecasting and projections of climate change. The Met Office has
extended its forecasting to seasonal, decadal and centennial
timescales. In seasonal forecasting, recent developments in
tropical storm and wave-height modelling have brought added
benefits to the oil and gas industry; and on longer scales, climate
models are being used to explore new threats and opportunities
to the industry, such as changes in permafrost regimes.
For more information on the development of climate
modelling and how Princeton University is using it to better
understand the nature of climate change, see pages 48-51. ■
Illustration: David Lyttleton

Photography> Bill Bachman
BP Faces
COFFEE QUEEN
Leanne Houghton /
Wild Bean Café barista
“I was shocked! I couldn’t believe it,” says
Leanne Houghton of her National Barista
crown. Every year, BP’s Wild Bean Café
baristas across Australia come together to
battle it out for the title. Leanne’s store is
located close to Melbourne airport and on an
average day she can make up to 200 coffees.
“We get a lot of travellers, and quite a few
regulars who are taxi drivers. I’ve seen some
fill two loyalty cards a week. That’s a lot of
coffee!” This was Leanne’s second trip to the
National Barista Competition finals and as
well as the hundreds of hours she spends
making coffee at work, she also spent around
10 extra hours training with her region’s food
service specialist, a Mocopan (Wild Bean
Café’s coffee supplier) representative, and her
fellow national finalist, Adriana Ivtingioski. “It
was amazing to win – all the hard work that
the team put in paid off.” Although not a coffee
drinker herself, Leanne takes pride in knowing
her stuff. “I like it when someone orders a
ristretto [a very short shot of espresso],
because they don’t
think I’ll know how
to make it. It’s nice
that we can give
our customers a
good café
experience in a
service station.” ■
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 07

➔ science made simple
Savvy seismic
With future oil and gas reservoirs increasingly
likely to be found under overhanging salt
formations, the development of new seismic
techniques to ‘see’ through this salt are
proving invaluable.
I
n the oil and gas business,
impaired vision is an
increasing challenge, all
thanks to salt. In the Gulf of
Mexico, for instance, 80% of
future oil and gas reserves are expected to
be found lying beneath a layer of salt – up
to several thousand metres thick in some
places – and in Angola, 60% of the BPoperated
Block 31 is covered with it. The
trouble is that trying to ‘see’ through salt is
like looking through frosted glass.
Seismic surveying generates images of
the geological structure deep beneath the
surface by transmitting soundwaves into
the earth and detecting and analysing their
reflections. But salt distorts these images,
preventing conventional seismic
08 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
Report> Nic Welsh
Illustration> Magic Torch
Towed streamers
acquisition techniques from giving a clear
picture of what is underneath. The salt’s
presence increases the risk of unsuccessful,
yet costly, exploration and development
activities. With so much potential lying
under these formations, BP is getting
creative with seismic technology in order
to clear away some of the frosting.
Traditional marine seismic imaging
builds a picture of a reservoir by acquiring
data in one orientation. By accessing many
lines, a cube of data can be built to produce
a three-dimensional (3D) image. Even the
large advances in 3D imaging over the past
decade have difficulty in delivering a good
image. To get a clearer view, you have to
find a way to look at the target from several
different orientations, or ‘azimuths’, and
Source vessel B
combine the data. In other words, you need
to go through it in a number of directions.
BP has led the development in multiazimuth
seismic approaches, creating a
toolkit of techniques designed to
illuminate reservoirs with ever-greater
clarity. While new processing and
modelling techniques are helping to
generate more detail about reservoirs using
seismic acquired by conventional, or
‘narrow azimuth’, techniques, BP has
developed proprietary technologies to
model and process ‘wide azimuth’ data.
This multi-azimuth image can be
obtained by acquiring conventional data in
several orientations, a technique developed
and applied by BP in Egypt’s Nile Delta.
Another technology, known as Wide
Azimuth Towed Streamer (WATS), uses a
conventional seismic vessel with streamers
of receivers towed behind it to collect the
reflected soundwaves. But rather than
using sound sources generated from the
recording vessel, two source vessels are
positioned to one side, at the front and tail

of the streamers. The
three vessels then travel for a
set distance collecting data. After
returning to their starting point, the source
vessels are offset from the receiver vessel
and repeat the journey. This process takes
place several times, collecting data from
many azimuths – creating the width – to
generate a much clearer image.
BP has developed another technique –
Ocean Bottom Seismic Nodes – to help
understand reservoirs lying under deep
water. A series of nodes – pressure vessels
containing recording equipment to detect
vibrations on the seafloor – is placed on the
seabed, allowing the source vessel at the
surface to travel freely, shooting energy
into the nodes from any direction on the
compass. The hardware was adapted from
instruments more commonly used to
record earthquakes, and is currently being
used to make field management decisions
Source vessel A
at the Atlantis field, in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP believes advanced seismic imaging
has the potential to contribute to the
delivery of more than 1 billion barrels of
reserves, along with enabling access to
more acreage, reduced exploration risk,
lower costs and improved recovery.
Indeed, advanced seismic imaging on
narrow azimuth data has contributed to
significant discoveries in Azerbaijan, while
multi-azimuth seismic has enabled
appraisal of reservoirs in Egypt, and wideazimuth
seismic methods are supporting
the appraisal and development of BP’s
deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico. ■
WATS uses a standard 3D seismic vessel with
receivers incorporated into towed streamers to
collect the data, but rather than using a sound
source mounted on the recording boat, additional
source boats are deployed. This ‘wide azimuth’
approach yields enhanced detail of the subsurface
geology obscured by salt deposits.
Recording vessel
Seismic stats
➔80%
The amount of future exploration and
production expected to lie under salt in
the Gulf of Mexico
➔60%
The amount of the BP-operated Block 31
in Angola that is covered by salt
➔1 billion
The number of barrels of reserves to
which BP believes advanced seismic
imaging has the potential to contribute.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 09

➔ exploration + production
Caspian report> Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli mega-project
10 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

SHIPSHAPE IN THE
CASPIAN
Amid the global publicity and geopolitical
sensitivities of a 1,760 km (1,093 mile) pipeline
built to export Caspian oil through three
countries to hungry markets, it is easy to forget
about the development of the offshore oil
reserves that started it all.
Report> Helen Campbell
Photography> BP Imageshop
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 11

Large scale: production from
the Central Azeri platform
began in 2005 under Phase 1
of the ACG development.
12 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

In the mid-1990s, when told
they were posted to Baku to work on the
‘Contract of the Century’ project, many BP
employees responded, “Thanks, that
sounds great. By the way, where is Baku?”
But if Azerbaijan and its fascinating
capital were not well known internationally
at that time, the huge and unique Azeri-
Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil development has
put it on the map. For Azerbaijan, this megaproject
has brought financial independence
and a newfound confidence. For BP, in terms
of project management, ACG is
undoubtedly one of the most demanding
projects ever undertaken.
ACG followed the 1997 Chirag ‘Early Oil’
project, which had demonstrated the
feasibility of production sharing agreements
in the country. The full-field project was
then developed in three phases, starting
with Central Azeri, followed by West and
East Azeri, and finally deepwater Gunashli.
Production began in February 2005.
ACG nearly didn’t happen. As world
oil prices crashed in 1998, there
were many doubts that the $10
billion project would get the go-ahead. But,
as one manager on the project puts it,
5 billion barrels of oil reserves “were never
going to be left in the ground”. ACG was
sanctioned and is now making a huge
difference to Azerbaijan, to BP and to world
oil markets.
ACG has transformed Azerbaijan’s
image on the world stage, along with its
economy, and was the major factor in
trebling gross domestic product over the
project’s course. The fields produce more
than 65% of the country’s oil, and during
2006 and 2007, Azerbaijan was the largest
contributor to non-OPEC supply growth.
It is unique, but not because it pushed
technological boundaries. Although it is the
Caspian’s only subsea development, it does
not lie in the deep waters that make today’s
projects in the Gulf of Mexico, or offshore
Angola, so ambitious. And its reserves are
not even the biggest in the world.
What distinguishes ACG is its scale. The
work scope included the engineering,
Long journey: the ACG complex
produces the oil that feeds the
1,670km (1,093 mile) BTC pipeline.
BLACK
SEA
BTC Pipeline
Ceyhan
Sokhumi
SYRIA
TURKEY
Batumi
RUSSIA
GEORGIA
Erzurum
ARMENIA
IRAQ
Caspian report>
ACG mega-project
fabrication, construction, installation and
commissioning of offshore drilling and
production, gas compression and water
injection facilities and subsea oil and gas
pipelines, and the expansion of what is now
the largest onshore terminal outside the
Middle East. Calling for six huge offshore
platforms, BP’s largest ever saturation dive
programme, and an unusually large
workforce of locals, BP expatriates and
contractors, ACG required extensive
logistical planning to realise each stage.
More than 159 million man-hours were
spent, 80% in Azerbaijan itself, and more
than 150 million kilometres driven without
major incident. At the project’s peak,
catering services were dispensing 20,000
meals a day to workers. Mouth-watering for
the diners, no doubt, but eye-watering for
those cooking.
One massive fundamental challenge
was where to build ACG’s huge offshore
structures. Key elements of those 233,000
tonnes of infrastructure could not be built
in-country. Although Azerbaijan had a long
history of oil production and was the
centre of Soviet oil platform jacket
manufacturing, its construction yards »
TBILISI
AZERBAIJAN
IRAN
CASPIAN
SEA
BAKU
ACG
Sangachal
AREA
ENLARGED
km 150 300
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 13

Project statistics
5 billion
the number of barrels of oil located in
the ACG field
1997
Chirag Early Oil project begins
65%
amount of Azerbaijan’s oil produced
from ACG
150 million
number of kilometres driven without a
major accident during contruction
20,000
number of meals a day provided at the
height of construction.
14 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

“From the very beginning,
geography played a big hand in
how things were going to be
done, and this added a degree of
complexity that most projects
never have to deal with.”
Bruce Luberski
Caspian report>
ACG mega-project
lacked the capacity to produce the raw
materials for ACG.
Bringing in ready-made elements and
upgrading local yards to undertake assembly
was the only option, but the project team
faced the paradox of Azerbaijan’s position –
on the shores of the world’s largest enclosed
body of water and yet landlocked.
The team used Russia’s canal system and
the Volga River, which originates northwest
of Moscow and is the only one that flows
into the Caspian. The canals allow
connection with the Black and Baltic Seas,
but are frozen for half the year and can only
accommodate relatively small vessels.
What ensued was a series of finely-balanced
waterway manoeuvres to get drilling and
accommodation modules manufactured in
Europe through the system.
From the very beginning, geography
played a big hand in how things were
going to be done, and “this added a
degree of complexity that most projects
never have to deal with,” says Bruce
Luberski, vice president for major projects
BP Azerbaijan. “There are only three ways to
come into the country; by air, which is
expensive and has weight limits; by road
truck, which is very difficult; and by boat
through the canals. In the Gulf of Mexico
and the North Sea, you pick up the
telephone, but in Azerbaijan, you had to
add on six to nine months just for logistics.
In all, 700,000 tonnes of standardised
components were procured via 3,000
orders with suppliers from all around the
globe, which were then shipped via sea,
canal, rail and road to Baku. This included
28 gas turbines, each generating 21
megawatts, as well 35,000 valves, 5,800km
(3,600 miles) of cable, 250,000 tonnes of
steel, 1,300km (807 miles) of linepipe, 350
pumps, 30,000 tonnes of piping, and 250
pressure vessels.
“It was a significant remit that needed
meticulous planning, control and the
establishment of a highly skilled and
experienced team of procurement supply
chain management [PSCM] professionals to
manage the supply chain through all three
phases,” says Lorie Riva, PSCM manager,
major projects since the start of the ACG
programme in 1997.
Marine installation was the next
challenge and required months of careful
planning. “I had just finished working on a
similar North Sea job, so it was quite a
shock seeing what we had in the Caspian,”
recalls Frank Wilson, who served as »
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 15

transportation and installation manager
and is now marine subsea director. “Because
of the canals’ width and height restrictions,
you couldn’t just whistle up the usual 21stcentury
installation vessels, and there
wasn’t sufficient time to build new vessels.”
Local state-owned vessels, some dating
from the 1970s, were upgraded to provide
the necessary heavy-lift, pipelaying and
dive support capability. A number of other
offshore support vessels, small enough to
come through the canal system, were
brought in, some having masts or decks cut
off in order to meet restrictions. The vessels
were then reassembled in Baku.
The upgrading strategy success was
all the more astonishing given that
the marine installation team
performed the Caspian’s first ever ‘floatover’
operations, where the deck is transported to
the offshore site by barge before being
floated and ballasted between the platform
legs and installed. Although the technique
was not new, other projects involved 10-
12,000 tonne decks, whereas ACG’s team
was dealing with almost 16,000 tonnes and
had to perform it six times.
The scope might have been daunting, but
ACG’s size worked in its favour. Invariably,
big projects see designers, contractors and
other team members come and go, each
making their mark. This usually means
changes, delays and increased costs and stress.
Instead, ACG’s team adopted a
standardised production line for the
eventual six platforms, each with a jacket
Staged approach: following the
success of the Chirag Early Oil
project, the full-field project
began with the construction of
the Central Azeri platform
(below and opposite).
16 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
and deck of a roughly similar size and
capability. Although this required the
amalgamation of two project teams – never
easy in the highly charged and competitive
oil sector – this blueprint approach was a
key factor in its success.
“We had a policy of no change, as we
wanted predictability with this project,”
says Carroll Kearney, who joined the
project in March 1997, and is currently the
Azerbaijan business unit’s major projects
Finely balanced: equipment for the ACG
complex was transported to Azerbaijan
via the Volga River, which freezes over for
half the year, meaning the team had to
manage a series of finely-balanced
waterway manoeuvres.
construction director. “In some ways,
bigger was better, as we had a chance to do
everything again with each platform, and
we knew what was going to happen
because of these standardised designs.”
By retaining project individuals,
contractor teams, fabrication yards and
suppliers, and rejecting change, ACG
achieved building cost savings of up to
24%, and construction schedule
improvements of almost seven months.

Consequently, ACG beat its planned
timescale for oil production by an
impressive three months, meaning
valuable earlier revenue for Azerbaijan
and shareholders. That crucial test, the
first year of operations, has seen ACG
meet, or exceed, all production and
availability targets.
Keen to share their know how, the
ACG teams submitted more than
50 pages of separate topics to BP’s
knowledge management centre, accessible
group-wide. The experiences of ACG in
standardisation, knowledge management,
risk management, contracting strategy and
project service management have helped
form BP’s major projects common process,
which defines and streamlines BP’s
approach to its largest projects. Fittingly,
ACG won the performance category of BP’s
internal Helios Awards programme, and a
stream of external accolades. Its
management team even gave an
unprecedented seven papers at the key
Offshore Technology Conference in
Houston in May 2008.
Teamwork and relationship building
within the BP team, with contractors,
suppliers or the state oil company, paid off,
helping to retain personnel and sustain
continuity and a sense of community. Alan
Dunn, who joined in 1995, initially as ‘Early
Oil’ senior project manager, and left Baku
after Phase 3 had come onstream, says there
is real attachment to a project like ACG.
“It takes five years to get something like
ACG together,” he says. “People formed a
very tight bond and the community spirit
was huge. ACG is a fantastic success story
of bringing a mega-project onstream for the
budget that was promised. It was far more
than just a job to work on a project like
that. For me, nothing else compares.”
Developing the oil was not the sole aim
of the contract. As well as upgrading local
yards to world-class capabilities, the ACG
project created, and sustained over six
years, 15,000 jobs for Azerbaijani
nationals, providing internationalstandard
training, which has opened doors
to jobs worldwide. And Baku and
Azerbaijan have experienced massive
change, enjoying a building boom of new
roads and railways, and airport
modernisations, along with new and
improved education and community
developments.
The future sees sustained oil
production for the project partners
and Azerbaijan, augmented with
the planned addition in 2013 of oil from
the Chirag Oil Project, due to be sanctioned
in late 2009. Most of the requisite
platform will be built in Azerbaijan and
predominantly by nationals.
“I believe the biggest and most positive
aspect of working on ACG was the
excellent training programmes for locals,”
says Ilgar Mammadov, an Azerbaijani who
joined in 1998 as an engineer and is now
project director for in-country fabrication.
“ACG offered great personal development
opportunities and made an enormous
difference to people’s skills. In addition, a
lot of money was invested in the yard
upgrades, and the proof is there to see.
“I feel very proud to have worked on the
project and very confident about the
future. ACG has changed people’s lives.” ■
“I believe the biggest and most
positive aspect of working on
ACG was the excellent training
programmes for locals. ACG
offered great personal
development opportunities
and made an enormous
difference to people’s skills. I
feel very proud to have worked
on the project and very
confident about the future.
ACG has changed people’s
lives.”
Ilgar Mammadov
Caspian report>
ACG mega-project
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 17

➔ supporting education Project Enthuse
Hands-on experience: Project
Enthuse is designed to help
teachers put the spectacle of
modern science and hands-on
experimentation back at the
heart of science lessons.
18 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

Photography> National Science Learning Centre
Report> Hester Thomas
INSPIRING
TOMORROW’S
BRIGHT
SPARKS
Science is endlessly fascinating and opens
new windows on the world. So, why aren’t
more young people interested in pursuing
it? Project Enthuse – a BP supported
programme – helps teachers motivate a
new generation of scientists.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 19

Enthusiasm is infectious. It is
almost impossible to resist the energy and
exuberance that radiates from someone
talking about a subject on which they are
well-informed, and which they clearly love.
You only have to think back to your school
days and consider which teachers were so
passionate about their topic that they
sparked an interest in you.
For some people, a spark turns into a
flame. Indeed, there are many scientists and
technologists who can trace their ardent
interest back to an inspirational teacher.
Yet, in recent years, there has been a
decline in the number of UK students
gaining qualifications in STEM subjects
(science, technology, engineering and
mathematics), which, in turn, has resulted
in a shortage of these skills in the
workforce. This threat to the
competitiveness of the UK economy has
led to an unprecedented rise in the interest
of government, industry and others in the
successful uptake of these subjects in
schools and universities.
In response, the STEM Framework was
established in 2007 to coordinate a wide
variety of initiatives that will increase the
numbers of students selecting and
succeeding in STEM subjects.
A vital element among these is the
highly innovative Project Enthuse.
Launched in July 2008, it offers teachers of
pupils aged between five and 19 hugely
increased access to world-class continuing
professional development at the state-of-
20 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
the-art National Science Learning Centre,
based in York.
Through Project Enthuse, every state
school in the UK can apply for an award,
which covers the fees, travel and
accommodation for any teacher, lecturer,
teaching assistant or technician attending a
course. In addition – and this makes the
award truly exceptional – it also pays for
the cost to schools of providing teaching
cover. Furthermore, there are extra funds to
help teachers implement ideas when they
return to school. In short, a four-day
residential course with total costs of
around $3,600 per delegate, is free with an
Enthuse award.
The intention is that with better
continuing professional development,
teachers will be able to put the wonder of
contemporary science and hands-on
experiments back at the heart of science
lessons in every school in Britain, and pupils
will be sufficiently interested to continue
science through to higher education.
Project Enthuse is a unique, five-year
partnership between the government, the
Wellcome Trust and several companies.
These include BP, Vodafone Group and
Vodafone Group Foundation, Rolls-Royce,
GlaxoSmithKline, General Electric
Foundation, BAE Systems, AstraZeneca and
the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust.
“As soon as we heard about Project Enthuse, we were
keen to be involved. We could see that this was a step
change in tackling a serious issue.”
Ian Duffy

Both the government and the Wellcome
Trust will give $14.5 million each to Project
Enthuse, with every company providing
$1.4 million. In addition, each of them will
nominate a senior member of staff to join
the Project Enthuse strategy board. This
meets annually to discuss, among other
matters, scientific ideas that should be
added to the National Science Learning
Centre’s curriculum.
“As soon as we heard about Project
Enthuse, we were keen to be involved,” says
Ian Duffy, manager of BP’s UK schools
education programme. “We could see that
this was a step change in tackling a serious
issue.” The BP Educational Service has been
providing teaching aids to schools for many
years, focusing particularly on STEM
subjects. “This project, led by outstanding
partners, enables teachers to keep abreast of
their subject, gain breadth [of knowledge]
and network with their peers,” explains
Peter Mather, BP head of country for the UK.
“The best way to inspire students is to
inspire teachers. We all share a vested
interest in seeing more youngsters studying
science and moving into industry.”
But just why is Project Enthuse needed?
“The issue isn’t so much about attainment at
school, as engagement,” explains Professor
John Holman, director of the National
Science Learning Centre, as well as National
STEM director. “In terms of engagement, not
enough young people are sufficiently
enthused to take science at a higher level.
Also, we see wide variability, with some
schools being far more successful at
engagement than others. These are the two
major issues we have to tackle.”
Specialist subjects
The problem of pupils turning away from
science because of the way it is taught was
highlighted in Success in Science, a report
published in 2008 by the UK’s Office for
Standards in Education (Ofsted). The
reasons include a shortage of teachers in
specialist subjects, such as physics and
chemistry; a reduction in practical
laboratory-based experimental work that
most pupils love; and, perhaps most
importantly of all, insufficient funds for
subject-based, continuing professional
development for teachers.
Yet, it is vital that more young people
want to study science and pursue careers in
the subject. “Globally, we face huge
challenges,” says Sir William Castell,
»
Project Enthuse
Unique environment: The National
Science Learning Centre was built by the
Wellcome Trust to provide science
teachers with an opportunity to continue
their professional development. Below, Sir
William Castell is the chairman of the
Wellcome Trust, and a non-executive
director of BP.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 21

Project Enthuse
chairman of the Wellcome Trust and a nonexecutive
director of BP. “Consider the
following – ageing populations, climate
change that drives migration, wider
geographic areas for tropical disease, new
challenges in the availability of food and
water and, finally, energy and
environmental sustainability. We need
people who are scientifically curious, are
interested in research and who can come
up with some profound answers that will
solve our problems.”
Given all this, the question was just what
could be done to excite young people about
science? The focus turned to teachers whose
knowledge, skills and enthusiasm are
paramount to capturing pupils’ attention.
22 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
“We want scientists who
are passionate about their
subject to engage with
teachers and pupils, to
share their knowledge of
science and integrate it
into the classroom through
exciting, practical work.”
Miranda Stephenson
Vastly improved continuing professional
development of science teachers became a
clear priority. In 2004, the Wellcome Trust
provided the money to build the National
Science Learning Centre. This superbly
equipped training facility is the only one of
its kind in the world.
But a building – however wonderful –
was not enough. Realising that teachers
needed help to fund their professional
development, Castell and Holman set
out to raise sufficient capital through
Project Enthuse.
Their goal, over the next five years, is for
a teacher of physics, chemistry and biology
from every state school in the country to
attend one of the National Science

Learning Centre’s wide range of courses,
topping up their knowledge via regional
science learning centres and by making use
of web-based programmes.
However, the ambitions for Project
Enthuse do not stop there. The National
Science Learning Centre is also training
scientists – including some from Project
Enthuse sponsor companies – in how to
work with schools. “We want scientists who
are passionate about their subject to engage
with teachers and pupils, to share their
knowledge of science, and integrate it into
the classroom through exciting, practical
work,” explains Miranda Stephenson,
director of the National Science Learning
Centre programme. “It’s important that
pupils meet scientists, gain a wider picture
of science in society, see that there are
opportunities for well-paid, interesting jobs
in science and also have role models.”
So what do teachers think of Project
Enthuse? John Hamilton-Cox, a chemistry
teacher from Nower Hill High School in
north London comments, “Without the
Project Enthuse award, I couldn’t have come
on this course. We have a science faculty of
17 people. Just two people’s training here
would have used up the department’s total
annual continuing professional
development budget.” Ian Howes, head of
science at Welland Park Community
College in Market Harborough is also
positive: “It’s nice to be treated like a
professional in professional surroundings.
I’ve gained ideas that I can use in my first
lesson. I’ll also share a lot of the concepts
with the rest of my colleagues. This is a great
opportunity to re-energise my department.”
External evaluators
The big question is can Project Enthuse
make a difference? The National Science
Learning Centre is employing external
evaluators to measure the impact of its
courses. However, its internal evaluations
look extremely encouraging. Most courses
include two residential periods with
teachers returning to report on the
changes they have implemented. National
Science Learning Centre evaluators then
rank their success. “In the academic year
2006-2007, some 73% of participants had a
high impact in their schools,” notes
Stephenson. “This increased to 90% in
2007-2008. What we’re seeing is that
changes are happening.”
If science teachers are able to encourage
more students to show an interest in science,
then a virtuous circle of benefits could result.
A greater number will go on to study science
in higher education and there will be a
greater pool of talent entering science-based
careers. Some will select teaching as a career,
filling the demand for specialist teachers in
physics and chemistry. They, in turn, will
enthuse and engage the next generation of
pupils about the value of science.
Even if pupils decide against studying
science at a higher level, Project Enthuse
can still have an impact. “One of our aims is
to improve scientific literacy,” explains
Holman. “It’s important we all have a basic
understanding of science so that we can
make informed decisions about issues
which affect everyone in society, such
as genetically modified crops and stem
cell research.”
But how long will it take to see more
students opting for further study and
careers in science? Castell believes that
Project Enthuse’s five years of funding is
sufficient time to make an impact. “My
hope is that Project Enthuse will be big
enough to make a difference and good
enough to be copied,” he says. “If we prove
its worth, we can go back to the
government and show that high-quality
continuing professional development is a
requirement for mainstream education –
not just in science, but for all subjects.” ■
Informed decisions: one of the aims of
Project Enthuse is to improve scientific
literacy so that society can make
informed decisions about issues such
as genetically modified crops.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 23

➔ business principles Corporate responsibility> Compliance + ethics
24 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

Report> Lisa Davison
Illustration> Serge Seidlitz
FIRM
FOUNDATIONS
A growing awareness of unethical business practices over
the past decade has brought the subject of compliance
and personal responsibility into the spotlight. At BP, this
issue has been placed right at the heart of its corporate
values, with a dedicated team working hard to ensure its
businesses meet the highest expectations.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 25

Corporate responsibility> Compliance + ethics
The concept of right and
wrong is probably one of the first things we
remember being taught by our parents.
Evolutionary biology, particularly
sociobiologists, would suggest this process
was more about honing than teaching,
since it argues that this sense of right and
wrong – also known as morals, morality
and ethics – actually evolved in humans for
the good of the individual and the group.
Humans, like many other animals, are
social beings who like to live together. This
evolution, says the argument, helps curb
excessive individualism for the benefit of
greater co-operation.
As well as living together, humans, more
often than not, work collectively too, and
the principles of a moral code are just as
relevant as they are in a social context. As
BP’s chief executive, Tony Hayward, says in
the company’s code of conduct: “Our
reputation, and, therefore, our future as a
business, depends on each of us, everywhere,
everyday, taking personal responsibility for
the conduct of BP’s business.”
There are well-documented cases in
many industries where such personal
responsibility hasn’t always been taken,
and in those instances the business in
question has fallen foul of the law or
society’s expectations. Some are dramatic
enough to cause a shift change right across
the corporate world.
In BP’s case, there was no drama, simply a
senior executive team that looked at the
external landscape and decided it wanted to
keep a step ahead of the game. The first
came in 2002, when BP announced it would
26 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
stop all facilitation payments – small
payments to low-level government officials
for administrative services. The payment of
bribes had already been banned, but this
decision (also carried out by Shell) moved
the ethical landscape. “People sat up and
took notice,” says Tim Langton, vice
president, segment and functions
compliance team. “You cannot overstate the
fact that in this area, if you get it right, it
changes the landscape across all sectors and
all industries.”
Sustainable roots
Seven years on, BP’s group-wide compliance
and ethics (C&E) function has grown from
strength to strength – albeit with bumps
along the way – planting sustainable roots
deep into all parts of the company. It has
taken time and the landscape is continually
evolving, with new risks as the
environment changes. Tom McCormick,
BP’s compliance & ethics officer is clear that
a successful C&E function relies on support
from the very top of the house. “BP’s
executive team has been closely involved
with our efforts from day one,” he says. “Its
explicit support is critical in helping each
and every business recognise and more
importantly, manage their risks.”
Andy Inglis, chief executive of
Exploration & Production, is one
such supporter. “Our code of
conduct makes BP’s position
very clear,” he says, “and we all
have a role to play in this.” Inglis’s own role
has included asking the C&E team, along
with BP’s legal team, to conduct an antibribery
risk assessment project across the
upstream business. “This work will identify
best practice anti-bribery practices,
procedures and policies for operations like
ours, identify any gaps and propose actions
to fill them – all of which we will then
disseminate through the businesses for
implementation,” he explains.
The challenge for C&E, much like the
teams who manage safety, is that it can
never sit back and say the job is done. It is a
question of ‘continuous improvement’ says
Barbara Kuryk, vice president for C&E’s
strategy, policy and programmes. Where
safety relies on the individual to recognise
unsafe practice before injury occurs – or,
worse, life is lost – compliance and ethics
relies on the individual to recognise
unethical practice before corporate ‘injury’
occurs and reputations are lost because
someone is sent to prison.
The key is behaviour. Safety is an easier
paradigm – everyone has felt pain so it’s
more tangible – although that doesn’t
necessarily mean safe practice is easier to
implement, simply that an ethical dilemma

“Our reputation, and, therefore, our future as a business,
depends on each of us, everywhere, everyday, taking
personal responsibility for the conduct of BP’s business.”
Tony Hayward
can be harder to spot. The cause and effect
with safety is very clear; there is a science
behind it. But when faced with an ethical
dilemma, the solution can sometimes cause
a completely new dilemma somewhere else
along the chain. “I cannot tell you the
number of times an OpenTalk [BP’s
confidential compliance and ethics helpline]
investigation has found that two or three
people made a judgement that has created a
non-compliant situation. Not because they
were doing anything covert, but because
they were trying to do their best, but made a
bad judgement,” says Kuryk.
To encourage employees to better
understand the dilemmas and adapt
accordingly, C&E has created a number of
tools. The two most prominent are its
global OpenTalk helpline (which receives
more than 1,000 calls per year) and its code
of conduct, benchmarked as best-in-class.
The code covers five key business areas:
protection of health, safety, security and
environment; employee treatment;
interaction with business partners;
interaction with governments and
communities; and appropriate handling of
company assets and financial integrity. “It’s
a universal standard,” says Kuryk. “If you do
everything the way the code tells you to do
it, you’ll be in good shape from an ethical
perspective.”
Simple process
Of course, an 84-page document cannot
cover every nuance of every instance in
every part of the world. So, says Langton,
the process is simple: “If there is no local
guidance in the region you work in, then
follow the code. If the local guidance is
more exacting than the code, then follow
the local guidance.”
Ultimately, managing compliance and
ethics is about managing risk, and
McCormick believes the company has
come on leaps and bounds in the way it
does this. “Lots of companies are good at
identifying risk,” he says. “The big question
then is how you take action.”
In the past, BP carried out an annual
exercise in which the top 7,000 individuals
in the company had to consider
compliance and ethics risk and confirm
they were managing it appropriately. In
2007, the team assessed the situation and
came to the conclusion that it was an
unwieldy process that only really asked
people to list issues, with little direction on
how to actually manage them. “It was an
enormous task, and the business benefit
was not commensurate with the effort,”
says Kuryk.
It was clear that if the team wanted to
ensure a high standard of compliance, then
the process needed to be simplified and the
conversation changed. All BP’s businesses
and functions know they need to manage
their risks. “It is their decision, their risk,”
says Langton. The role of the C&E team is
to promote compliance, provide oversight
and help respond to ethical quandaries.
It is a collaborative effort. Rather than a
central team disseminating a list of risks
and leaving the businesses to figure it out,
the process is a two-way conversation, in
which the C&E team helps a business or
function respond to known risks. And if
the C&E team should spot another issue as
they listen to a business, then all the better.
There are, of course, risks that can have
an impact on any part of BP’s activities –
such as bribery, breaches of competition
law, environmental protection and
personal conduct – but underneath these
‘top line’ themes, there’s a second layer of
more specific issues depending on which
part of the business you’re focusing.
“The risks have very different instances
in very different parts of BP, and actually can
be different in different parts of an
individual segment,” says McCormick. “So,
one risk could be a blanket issue right across
our Exploration & Production businesses,
but only relevant in one sub-segment of our
Refining & Marketing operations. Our job is
to make sure the programme works
everywhere, while having enough flexibility
to cater to all our customers.
“There is a real art to understanding
what is happening in the multitude of
different businesses in the 65 jurisdictions
where BP operates. It’s very complex and
it’s multi-dimensional. It’s what makes it
fun – to make compliance and ethics
relevant from a business standpoint.”
The ultimate goal is that this joined-up
approach should run like a seam right
through BP’s DNA and, to ensure that BP’s
board of directors plays a critical role.
While many company boards review their
compliance programme once a year, BP
reviews its risk profile every single
business quarter.
Fluid situation
The attention it is given is a reflection of the
fact that BP is dealing with a dynamic, fluid
situation. “The fact that Tim’s team talks
straight to the top of the line regularly
means they understand what the businesses
are experiencing as it happens,” says Kuryk.
“It is about being relevant on a day-inday-out
basis,” adds Langton, “and it has to
be simple otherwise people won’t do it.”
Simplicity allows all BP employees to
take the kind of individual responsibility
for the group that Hayward describes in the
code of conduct. In turn, it helps tell a
strong story to the outside world – driving
reputation. Indeed, other companies have
approached BP to share its experiences.
And, if potential partners value BP’s ethical
commitment as a reason to want to work
with it, then doing the right thing brings
about mutual advantage – in other words,
good business in the ethical sense provides
a multinational company with its license
to continue operating. ■
“There is a real art to understanding what is
happening in the multitude of different businesses in
the 65 jurisdictions where BP operates. It’s very
complex and it’s multi-dimensional. It’s what makes
it fun – to make compliance and ethics relevant from
a business standpoint.”
Tom McCormick
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 27

➔ BP Shipping LNG carriers> Gem class
Report> Nick Reed
Photography> Stuart Conway
28 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
MASTER
MARINERS
They may have been four years in design and
construction, but it has taken just a few weeks for
BP’s new fleet of ‘Gem’ class liquefied natural gas
(LNG) carriers to prove what a sparkling addition
they are to the company’s shipping fleet. Greener,
safer and more efficient than any LNG vessels before
them, they have blazed a trail in the industry.

Floating gem: the British Ruby midway
through discharging its cargo at the port
of Sagunto north of Valencia, Spain after
transporting it from Trinidad.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 29

BP Shipping> Gem class
To the untrained eye, there
is nothing obviously
‘different’ about the sleek
new liquefied natural gas
(LNG) carrier that glides
its way serenely, but with
purpose, through the Suez
Canal. Just a quick chat with the experts is
all you need, however, to realise that British
Diamond, along with its slightly older sisters
in the new ‘Gem’ class fleet – British Emerald,
British Ruby and British Sapphire – represents
nothing short of a revolution in the way gas
is transported around the globe.
There’s the way the ships are powered
for a start. Gone are the conventional single
steam turbines, to be replaced by a dual-fuel
diesel-electric (DFDE) system that uses a
power station concept. This increases fuel
efficiency and so reduces costs and
greenhouse gas emissions. The technology
comprises four diesel generators and two
electric motors geared to one propeller,
with the diesel engines capable of running
on ‘boil-off’ gases from the LNG cargo tanks,
or on conventional diesel fuel.
“Each ship consumes around 40 tonnes
per day less fuel than a traditional LNG
carrier of a similar size, even though it is
carrying more cargo,” explains Adrian
Howard, vice president for assurance. “That
equates to daily savings of up to $25,000 per
ship.” Annual emissions savings are around
36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 1,700
tonnes of sulphur oxides.
‘Clean seas’ is one of the core values for
BP Shipping (BPS). It is a noble ambition,
but not one that is always easy to achieve
when dealing with shipbuilders who seek
to optimise yard and construction
efficiency in a competitive market and,
therefore, focus on low cost,
standardisation of design and speed of
construction, rather than the longer-term
environmental impact and increased
efficiency.
»
30 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
“Each ship consumes around 40
tonnes per day less fuel than a
traditional LNG carrier of a similar
size, even though it is carrying
more cargo. That equates to daily
savings of up to $25,000 per ship.”
Adrian Howard

Facts and figures
Watchful eye: chief officer
Peter Hackett watches over
the bow as tugs tow the
British Ruby carefully out of
the port of Sagunto.
Per vessel specifications of BP’s new ‘Gem’ class of LNG-carrying ships:
Length 288 metres (944 feet)
Width 44.2 metres (145 feet)
Draft 11.47 metres (38 feet)
Deadweight 76,000 tonnes
Gross tonnage 99,600 tonnes
Cargo capacity 155,000 cubic metres
Service speed 20 knots
Main engines Two 12-cylinder Wartsila 50DF (1,400kW) plus two 9cylinder
Wartsila inline 50DF (8,550kW) – all at 514rpm.
Generators Two Converteam 6.6kV (10,313kVA) plus two
Converteam 6.6kV (13,750kVA) 14-pole salient machines
Shipowner BP Shipping
Shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries
Flagged Isle of Man
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 31

Main course: chief cook
Felicano Escabarte and
second cook Reynold
Zubiaga serve out the
evening meals prepared
from a list of crew requests.
32 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
“We were constantly pushing
for higher standards. We
followed all the relevant
guidelines and regulations at
every stage, of course, but
whenever we could, we looked
at ways in which we could
significantly exceed them.”
Mark Anderson

BP Shipping> Gem class
All hands: Able seaman
Aristotle Cabatingan and
ordinary seaman Alberto
Manonsong carefully stow away
the mooring ropes below deck
after leaving port at Sagunto.
Marine charts used for
navigating the straits of
Gibraltar (below).
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 33

BP Shipping> Gem class
Ship shape: the view from the
bridge, or navigation deck, as the
British Ruby approaches the Rock of
Gibraltar (above). Chief officer Peter
Hackett watches over the portside.
That was certainly the case when BPS
began approaching the world’s shipyards
with its vision for the Gem class. Not only
was it looking for a form of propulsion that
had never previously been used in a Far Eastbuilt
LNG vessel, but also a different kind of
hull, a non-standard engine configuration, a
new cargo containment system, and even
new designs for the funnel, deck house and
cargo machinery room.
“Convincing a yard that this was the
way forward, that the technologies and
innovations we were proposing would not
only work but also provide them with a
competitive edge, was a huge challenge,”
says Nick Davison, head of discipline for
marine structures in the BPS technical
assurance group. Several builders actually
refused to work on such a new concept,
until Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of
Korea – the world’s biggest shipbuilder –
put its head above the parapet.
Design work
The contract was signed in the autumn of
2004, and design work accounted for most
of 2005. Exhaustive aerodynamic and
hydrodynamic model testing was carried
out in Sweden and the UK, to ensure the
hull, bow, funnel and other external
features would all function as efficiently as
possible. This resulted in many other
features, including novel wind deflectors
over the trunk and in front of the bridge,
which reduce drag.
There were even laboratory tests with a
paint manufacturer to investigate colours
34 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
for the hull, deck and trunk that would
reduce the impact of heat on the cargo
tanks. And considerable attention was paid
to refining the vital cargo containment area
– moving the fuel tanks away from the hull,
for example – to address common, and
expensive, issues that have plagued other
LNG ships in the past.
Due to a smaller engine room, the cargo
area in Gem class ships is more than 12%
larger than its Trader class predecessors.
The first three ships were built at HHI’s
Ulsan yard – British Emerald beginning
service in July 2007, with British Ruby and
British Sapphire following in July and
September 2008 respectively. British
Diamond was the final jewel in the crown: it
was built at Hyundai Samho Heavy
Industries (HSHI) in Samho-eup, and was
delivered in October 2008. The $1 billion
project came in under budget and on time
overall.
Without doubt, the Gem class vessels
have set a new benchmark in the industry.
“We were constantly pushing for higher
standards,” says Mark Anderson, BPS
construction manager. “We followed all the
relevant guidelines and regulations at
every stage, of course, but whenever we
could, we looked at ways in which we
could significantly exceed them.”
The initially sceptical shipbuilding
industry in the Far East has been forced to
sit up and take notice as a result. HHI’s
brave decision in rising to the considerable
construction challenge has meant it is now
the region’s market leader in the
manufacture of DFDE-powered LNG
carriers. No fewer than 57 orders for similar
vessels are currently active at Far Eastern
yards, making DFDE the industry’s new
number one choice for LNG ship
propulsion systems.
Safety triumph
The programme was a health and safety
triumph, too, with just four lost time
injuries sustained by Hyundai staff, in a
total of 4,731,201 shipyard hours. There
was only one BP recordable injury in that
time: when an inspector fell off his bicycle
and slightly sprained his wrist.
Successful new internal relationships
have also been forged. “There was great
co-operation between the design and
construction teams and the sea staff,”
explains Chris Bailey, BPS technical
manager, fleet. “We ran workshops with
engineering officers and deck officers during
the initial design phase, then put
engineering officers in the Korean site teams
for three months at a time so they could see
how the ships were built. The aim was to
increase awareness and understanding of
what we do among end users.”
Perhaps most importantly, of course, do
the ships work? “Absolutely,” says BPS
charterer, Bruce Moore. “They are
materially more complicated than our
other ships, so the engineers in particular
are getting to grips with a number of
operational challenges. But the ships are all
in service, are all busy, and the feedback
from crews is extremely positive.”
So, safer, greener and more efficient
ships that produce improved performance
and clear commercial benefits; new design
and construction standards; and happy
crews. Oh yes, and cleaner seas. Not just
gems by name, it would appear, but also
gems by nature. ■

Doing the rounds: chief
officers Peter Hackett and
Chris Green walk under
the pipelines running over
the cargo hold.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 35

Viewpoint> Stravinsky recording
36 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

All the rite notes
On a cold November day last year, a group of talented young
musicians from the Trinity College of Music Symphony
Orchestra gathered together in London’s oldest concert hall for
a very special recording of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and
Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The music is to be used in a BP film
commissioned to mark the company’s centenary year. In
production for the past three years, the film begins with a
recreation of the moment geologist George Reynolds and his
team first struck oil in May 1908. It is this moment that
Stravinsky’s piece – notorious for its complicated melodies –
illustrates musically, while Elgar’s arrangement represents the
‘Englishness’ of Reynolds. The professional commission gave
the students invaluable experience of a real recording session,
while providing Trinity with the funding to bring in Edward
Gardner – one of Britain’s pre-eminent conductors – to coach
the orchestra. The next issue of BP Magazine will celebrate
BP’s centennial year with a special historical edition.
REPORT: LISA DAVISON / PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD DAVIES
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 37

➔ international operations Country report> Brazil
Report> Paula Kolmar
Photography> Marc Morrison
Sweet success: sugar cane
harvesting occurs twice a year
in Brazil in the warm central
areas near the equator. The
country produces more than
20 billion litres of sugar cane
ethanol every year.
38 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

BRAZIL
THE
UNDISCOVERED
COUNTRY
Business and tourism are on the rise in Brazil – a vast
country that spans more than half of the South
American continent. With strong positions in jet fuels,
auto and manufacturing lubricants, and a new venture
in sugar cane-based biofuels, BP is finding itself well
placed to take advantage of this growing interest.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 39

Vast potential: agriculture is
big business in Brazil, but
cowboys are still the best way
to move cattle across the
country’s great expanses of
dirt roads and trails.
Vital statistics:
Name: Brazil
Area: 8,511,965km 2 (3,286,488 square miles)
Population: 196,342,592
Life expectancy: 71.71 years
Capital city: Brasília
Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate
in the south
Language: Portuguese
Religion: Roman Catholic (73.6%);
Protestant (15.4%)
Currency: real
Major industries: agriculture, textiles, shoes,
chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin,
steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts.
40 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
PERU
VENEZUELA
COLOMBIA
CHILE
AREA
ENLARGED
BOLIVIA
km 500 1000
Amazon River
GUYANA
SURINAME
Manaus
BRAZIL
Campo
Grande
PARAGUAY
ARGENTINA
NORTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
SOUTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Atop a mountain named Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro,
the massive, awe-inspiring sculpture of Christ the
Redeemer stands, arms extended wide, leaving its
message open for interpretation, perhaps a religious
symbol, maybe a welcome, or embrace of protection.
“Look at all that Brazil offers,” it seems to say, “and see
a bright future, new growth and fresh opportunities.”
BP has certainly seen those opportunities and is
busy growing its presence in the South American
country, although not, at the moment, in the way
one might expect.
Brazil produces hydrocarbons primarily from the
Atlantic Ocean in the Campos basin in the southeast
– in 2008 it produced around 2 million barrels per
day. Many energy companies, including the national
oil company Petrobras and BP, have their main offices
in Rio, the original gateway to Brazil. An
extraordinary place, Rio is a city of millions, where
breathtaking beauty and extremes of wealth and
50
Belem
Fortaleza
BRASILIA
São
Paulo
Porto
Alegre
URUGUAY
FRENCH
GUIANA
Salvador
40
Recife
Rio de
Janeiro
As I stood at the base of one of the world’s most
recognised sculptures, watching a bright sun’s
white radiance turn to a soft glow with the
approach of dusk, I considered a well-kept secret
I learned about Brazil. A country known for its
beautiful people (inside and out I must add), the
Amazon rainforest, Carnival, World Cup football
teams, famous beaches and its Portuguese
language is quietly building up its resource
muscle and cultivating its business acuity. Brazil
is a remote giant that is poised to emerge as a
formidable influence in the world.
30
»
10
0
10
20
30

Open arms: Rio de Janeiro’s
most famous icon, Christ the
Redeemer, sits atop Corcovado
mountain, arms spread wide to
all visitors.
Country report> Brazil
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 41

History: Brazil is the largest and most
influential country in South America, and the
only one whose people speak Portuguese.
Following 300 years of rule under Portugal,
Brazil became independent in 1822 and a
republic in 1889. Governance fell under
military control until a peaceful transition to
civilian administration in 1985.
Trade: The discovery of diamonds, gold and
other precious metals peaked the interest of
Portugal and France in the 16th century.
Mining remains one of its key industries.
Highly developed agriculture, manufacturing
and service sectors support its presence in
world markets, with the US as its primary
trading partner.
Culture: Passionate, warm people
characterise Brazil’s population and they are a
nation of zealots when it comes to football
(soccer). The comfort and pleasure of guests
dominate their lifestyle, and visits always
begin with the offer of strong coffee in tiny
espresso cups, followed by immense
generosity with their time and space. Passion
for health and beauty is obvious, but
Brazilians look for it as much on the inside as
on the outside of people.
42 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

Country report> Brazil
Favourite spot: at the base of
Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado,
tourists and locals are treated to
the stunning sculpture and a
perfect view of Rio and its beaches.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 43

»
Country report> Brazil
poverty are tightly packed between
mountains, hillsides and world-renowned
beaches – Copacabana and Ipanema. It may
soon be famous as an energy centre, too.
Recent oil discoveries off the city’s coast
have some experts believing vast resources
lie beneath a dome of salt and rock.
This news lifted the country and, one
could argue, even stimulated economic
growth and development, thus leading to
more jobs and more money to spend or
invest. Along with Russia, India and China,
Brazil is recognised as one of four key
emerging markets that will drive future
global growth and it is this potential that BP
is working hard to tap into: specifically in
lubricants and aviation fuel.
São Paulo, the most populous city in
Brazil, is home to BP’s lubricants
business and Air BP offices, and
serves as the global development centre for
BP’s premiere venture into biofuels, using
sugar cane rather than corn. Sampa, as it is
commonly called by locals, is a
cosmopolitan city with an expanding
middle-class economy and evolving smallbusiness
sector. Portuguese, the national
language, is often the only one travellers
encounter outside of their hotels.
The southeast region, where Rio and São
44 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
New arrival: Air BP is the
first new aviation fuelling
company to arrive in Brazil
in the past 50 years.
Paulo are located, represents close to 80% of
the population and 60% of Brazil’s buying
power. About an hour’s travel by plane, the
two metropolises cover a compact area of
southeastern Brazil, one of the five largest
countries in the world. From a marketing
point of view, the two cities offer
convenient exposure to roughly 20 million
potential customers in a country where
people love and depend on their cars, and
take pride in maintaining them with the
best products they can afford. That means
changing the oil under the hood regularly
using high-performance, branded and
proven engine oil products.
BP Lubricants’ Castrol brand, sold in
Brazil since the 1950s, takes the needs of
customers very seriously and designs oils
with specifications targeting a suite of
vehicles, from small flex-fuel cars to large
cargo trucks. The Castrol brand also serves
Brazil’s growing automotive
manufacturing, metalurgy and machinery
manufacturing industries. BP Lubricants’
Industrial Lubricants & Services (ILS)
division also works closely with the
mining industry – Brazil’s iron ore exports
generate around $2 billion in annual
revenue – and sugar mills. As of 2007,
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of
sugar cane.
»
NEW HOPE FOR
PROSPERITY
Favelas (fah - veh - lahs):
shantytowns and slums of Rio de
Janeiro and São Paulo; rich in
history; the only affordable
housing for lower-working-class
people; violence is common.
Famous and infamous at once, Rio’s
favelas number around 1,000. The
peculiar urban geography of the city has
meant many are placed on hillsides that
face the prosperous seaside
neighbourhoods and tourist spots. They
provide a striking illustration of the
dramatic gap between rich and poor.
Favelas are a culture within a culture,
self-governing, caught in a cycle of poverty
from which it is hard to break free. Living
conditions have been a major issue in
Brazil for at least a century, and many
attempts to ‘cure’ the problem have left
them in the same spiral at a growing rate.
Documentaries, movies, and tours
have placed a small spotlight on favelas,
but as Brazil advances its global presence,
attention is intensifying.
Small strides are helping direct people
towards the hope of prosperity. Cristina
Brunet, community affairs coordinator
for all of BP Brazil’s businesses, is getting
the company involved with passion
and funding.
She is a Carioca (native of Rio de
Janeiro) to the core and believes
passionately in a future for people in the
favelas. “Most residents are hard-working
and ambitious, grasping for opportunities
to improve themselves,” she explains.
“Education and training give them the
chance to see a better future.”
Rio’s Favela da Maré is a community
that supports education, art, and tutoring
for university entrance exams through a
homegrown organisation called CEASM,
founded in 1997. We were permitted to
visit the school where BP sponsors
language courses in English, Spanish and
French. Just as extraordinary is the
recently opened museum of Maré history
and local works of art. One of the CEASM
founders explains why he built the
museum: “The people like to express
themselves through art to tell a story or
reflect the place where they live. I
wanted to give them a place to exhibit
their art and possibly motivate others to
take part.”

Hope abounds: in a bid to escape cramped conditions,
extreme poverty and violence in the favelas (top),
many residents, both young and old, take advantage of
local training programmes and schooling. Science is
supported in the Favela da Maré school, while
photography is taught as a job skill in São Paulo.
“Most residents are hardworking
and ambitious,
grasping for opportunities
to improve themselves.”
Cristina Brunet
Brazil> Favelas
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 45

Country report> Brazil
Castrol lubricants are produced and
packaged at a plant on the outskirts of Rio.
Demand for the products is high, and
output is closely managed by Salim Abi
Saab. “Because of this demand, the plant
operates flat out. Unscheduled downtime is
an unacceptable risk, as are poor safety
habits,” Abi Saab explains. “We have a
rigorous production schedule and an
intricate arrangement for truck arrivals,
loading and departures. Safety is managed
with a firm hand for employees and
shippers alike. It is a key feature in our
ability to maintain the customers’
expectations of quality and delivery.” Back
in São Paulo, Mauricio Garcia-Ramos and
Carlos Cardozo, the heads of automotive
and industrial lubricants, recently
implemented a new marketing programme
that makes efficient use of distributors to
increase product sales throughout the
sprawling and sparsely populated regions
“Safety is managed with a firm hand
for employees and shippers alike. It
is a key feature in our ability to
maintain the customers’
expectations of quality and delivery.”
Salim Abi Saab
46 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
of Brazil. “After a few months, the positive
impact of the programme is evident in the
numbers,” says Garcia-Ramos and Cardozo.
Air travel within Brazil and from around
the world is on the rise. The country’s 67
airports are operated by the government
entity Infraero, which is dedicated to
meeting the demand and improving
flight safety.
Tourism is a major growth area, with
investors opening more resorts and
hotels on exquisite beaches and
close to areas of hard-to-access natural
beauty, which had previously required
visitors to stay in small campsites. ‘Build it
and they will come’ as the old saying goes,
and so it is in Brazil. Air BP, imbued with a
passion and process for safety and
efficiency, is establishing itself as the
aviation fuelling company recognised as
having the safest operation in the country,”
says Marcelo Soares, operations manager.
The first new aviation fuelling company in
Brazil in 50 years, Air BP has brought
innovative ideas and proven safety
measures for fuelling planes accurately.
This is evident in the fact that Brazil’s
government is currently assessing Air BP’s
safety procedures and is planning on
making its ‘no decal no fuel’ policy a law
in the country.
“Brazil’s jet fuels market has grown 8.1%
and 7.7%, respectively in 2007 and 2008.
After completing construction of the
Rio de Janeiro International Airport
terminal and the pipeline to access local
fuel supply in May 2008, Air BP Brazil has
established a solid foundation for business
growth”, says Ricardo Paganini, Air BP
Brazil country manager.
The safety philosophy and procedures
align with the objectives of Infraero: to put
in place a safe, efficient fuelling process in
Safe hands: Castrol has had a
presence in Brazil since the 1950s
and prides itself on its safety record.
Above, the view over Rio de Janeiro is
a spectacular sight.

order to prepare for the anticipated
increase in air traffic. Tourism is a big part
of the growth, but business travel is on the
rise as well. Visiting the Brazilian
Consulate in Houston, I discover that
applications for business visas to Brazil
have grown at a remarkable rate over the
past 18 months. Whether tourism or
business is attracting people to Brazil, the
hidden potential is building momentum.
Paulo Pinho, head of BP’s biofuels venture
in the country, sees the opportunity in
Brazil as far-reaching.
“Given today’s petroleum price
volatility and the global interest in
reducing dependency on hydrocarbon fuel,
our joint venture, Tropical Bioenergia,
gives BP a position in the growing sugar
cane ethanol industry in Brazil,” says Pinho.
And Brazil is the place for this business,
producing around 22 billion litres of sugar
cane ethanol per year, according to its
industry organisation UNICA, and
continues to show big growth. With two
harvests per year, sugar cane is plentiful in
Brazil, and studies show that there is
enough arable land available to support
production of biofuels without having an
impact on land for food crops, or sensitive
areas such as rainforests. Brazil is far ahead
of most countries in providing fossil and
biofuels to consumers; 90% of the vehicles
are flex-fuel, so the driver can switch fuels
whenever the prices change. “Increasing
capacity for making sugar cane ethanol, as
we plan to do at Tropical, creates more
opportunity for exporting to consumers
who want the choice.”
Discovering Brazil is a trip more and
more people and businesses are taking, and
the prize is a gold mine of fortune and
prosperity from every direction. The
undiscovered country is about to burst
onto the world’s radar. ■
“Given today’s petroleum
price volatility and the
global interest in
reducing dependency on
hydrocarbon fuel, our
joint venture, Tropical
Bioenergia, gives BP a
position in the growing
sugar cane ethanol
industry in Brazil.”
Paulo Pinho
Field to fuel: farming sugar cane is
paying off in a big way as the world
takes a close look at Brazil’s sugar
cane ethanol industry.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 47

➔ technolo g y
University partnerships> Climate modelling
48 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE

CLIMATE’S
CRYSTAL BALL
No matter how you look at it, when it
comes to the Earth’s climate, change is
definitely in the air. Nina Morgan finds
out how climate modelling can provide a
glimpse into the climatic conditions we
can expect in the future.
From rising global temperatures to changing
rainfall patterns, and increases in the severity of storms –
climate change affects us all. But how will the climate change
in the future? And what factors will determine it? The honest
answer, says Dr V Ramaswamy, director of the Geophysical
Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) – a US Department of
Commerce-funded National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) lab in Princeton, New Jersey – is
simple: “We still have lot to learn!” But he is quick to point out
that thanks to advances in climate modelling, scientists now
have a much better grasp of how the climate system works.
This new understanding can help when it comes to meeting the
many challenges it poses to our way of life.
Climate modelling involves using mathematical equations to
describe processes in the climate system, and the effects of the
interactions that take place between them. The first general
circulation model – effectively the first model of the climate
system – was developed in 1969 at GFDL. Newer climate models
take many more processes into account, and GFDL researchers
remain at the forefront of the modelling field (see left). “We don’t »
Report> Nina Morgan
Imagery> NOAA
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 49

SCIENCE STATS
BP’s university science
research programmes
Some of the climate modelling work
carried out by the GFDL is done in
collaboration with Princeton University
professors Steve Pacala and Robert
Socolow, co-directors of the Carbon
Mitigation Initiative (CMI). Princeton
has world-renowned climate modelling
expertise in its own right, and has
developed a number of important
techniques and methodologies to help
better understand the planet’s
atmosphere in the past and present, and
what is shaping events and factors. BP
and Ford established the CMI at
Princeton University in 2000 to carry out
research into the fundamental scientific,
environmental and technological issues
that will determine how carbon can be
managed in the future. BP’s original
10-year commitment to CMI provided
$1.5 million a year, and was later
increased to more than $2 million a year.
Recently, BP has agreed to extend the
partnership for a further five years, from
2011 to 2015.
The CMI is just one of the long-term
university science research programmes
that BP supports. Others include:
■ The BP Institute for multi-phase
flow, based at the University of
Cambridge, UK
■ The Methane Conversion Cooperative
(MC2), based at the California Institute
of Technology and the University of
California, Berkeley, US
■ Clean Energy: Facing the Future and
the Energy Innovation Laboratory,
based at Tsinghua University, the
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics,
and the China Academy of Sciences
■ Ocean Science and Deepwater
Technology, based at the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, US
■ The Urban Energy Systems Project,
based at Imperial College, London, UK
■ Nanotechnology Solar Research, based
at the California Institute of Technology
■ Energy Biosciences Institute, based at
the University of California, Berkeley,
the University of Illinois and Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, US
■ Energy Initiative and Advanced
Conversion Research Project, based at
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, US.
50 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
have a conventional laboratory to test how
these various processes interact or the role
each plays in affecting the Earth’s climate,”
explains Dr Ramaswamy. “Instead, we use
powerful supercomputers as our ‘laboratory’
to explore how these various systems
influence the Earth’s climate both now and
in the future.”
It’s a tall order. To know how the climate
will change in the future, it’s necessary to
understand how climate systems behave in
the present and have done in the past.
Like weather forecasting, this relies on
numerical models and analysing vast
amounts of data gathered from land-, seaand
satellite-based observation, to gain a
better picture of the many and varied
processes that affect and control climate
(see page 51).
“The key to climate
modelling is to bring all the
relevant equations together
to work towards an
integrated knowledge of
how the coupled
atmosphere-ocean-land
system works.”
Dr V Ramaswamy
While changes in the composition of
the Earth’s atmosphere – such as rising
levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), decreasing
ozone levels in the stratosphere, and the
effects of changes in the level of
particulates that contribute to air pollution
in different parts of the world – are
important, other variables also play key
roles. These include, for example, changes
in the amount of solar radiation that
reaches the Earth’s surface and natural
phenomena, such as ocean circulation and
ocean/atmosphere interactions.
Climate modellers begin by developing
numerical models to describe these
individual systems and variables, and then
go on to combine them to build very large,
complex numerical models. The aim is to
accurately describe the Earth’s current
climate system in order to better
understand how the atmosphere works,
how greenhouse gases affect the
atmosphere and trap heat next to the
surface, and how the oceans interact with
the atmosphere, the terrestrial biosphere
and plants and animals on the land.
“The key to climate modelling is to
bring all the equations together to work
towards an integrated knowledge of how
the coupled atmosphere-ocean-land system
works,” says Dr Ramaswamy. “But before
we can use the models to predict the future,
we first have to validate them to make sure
they adequately describe the present.” Only
then can modellers ‘force’ the models – or

“Thanks to the growth in computing power, better
methods of data collection and handling – and, most
importantly, increased brain power – we now know more
about the climate system than we did 10 years ago.”
Dr V Ramaswamy
incorporate ‘what if’ scenarios – to gain an
idea of how the climate may behave if, for
example, oceanic or atmospheric
conditions change.”
With so many processes and scenarios
to consider, developing and running the
models is a major challenge, as is
interpreting the results. Both weather and
climate are subject to natural variations,
which have nothing to do with the forcing
that drives climate change. Sorting out
those variations from the effects of forcing
requires a major effort. Ironically, says Dr
Ramaswamy, “although we are still not able
to reliably predict climate variability with
our modelling, we can use it to study the
effect of the forced variations in order to
get a good handle on how the global
climate will change over a timescale of
decades. And we can also get a good idea of
what is causing the changes.”
Temperature records reveal that during
the 20th century the climate system as a
whole had warmed. The model results
confirm that most of this global warming
can be attributed to observed increases in
concentrations of greenhouse gases. These
rises have been strongly influenced by
human activity, with the continuous rise in
anthropogenic – or human-generated –
CO2 levels responsible for about 55% the
warming effect.
But climate modelling is not all doom
and gloom. It is also useful in exploring the
options for adapting to, and mitigating the
effects of, climate change. The information
derived from climate modelling is already
being used to clarify the options policy
makers need to understand in order to
make the right choices to prevent further
environmental damage. Climate modelling
results will, for example, play an important
role in a two-year study focusing on climate
change and climate choices, beginning at
the US National Academy of Sciences.
There are a number of scientificallybased
options – for example, carbon
capture and sequestration, or planting
more forests – under consideration. “But
whether these are the best options and
whether they are economically feasible,”
says Dr Ramaswamy, “is another question.
Technology> Climate modelling
Developing mitigation strategies for global
warming is – like understanding climate
change itself – a great balancing act, and
decisions must be taken with great care.”
The good news is that the technology
for climate modelling continues to
improve. “By developing better ways to
analyse data more intelligently, climate
modellers are increasing our quantitative
understanding of how climate works.
Thanks to the growth in computing power,
better methods of data collection and
handling – and, most importantly,
increased brain power – we know more
about the climate system than we did 10
years ago, and this is being fed back in to
improve our understanding even further.
Climate modellers have already unravelled
many aspects of the climate system and
contributed useful information to help the
world adapt to or mitigate climate change.
Thanks to continuing incremental
advances in observation technology,
coupled with ever-growing computing
power, we’re learning more all the time.” ■
Weather and climate:
what’s the difference?
Weather refers to the state of
atmospheric conditions, such as
humidity, precipitation, temperature,
cloud cover and wind at any one place
at any one time. Climate, in contrast,
refers to the characteristic pattern of
weather elements over several decades.
Weather forecasting and climate
modelling generally rely on the same
sort of data – but treat them in
different ways. The goals are different,
too. For weather forecasting, the aim is
to predict accurately what the weather
will be like a few days in the future.
With climate modelling, the challenge
is to predict how climate systems will
behave and what will influence their
behaviour decades into the future.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 51

➔ arts + culture
China: Journey to the East
52 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
Report> Hester Thomas
Photography> Trustees of The British Museum
Chinese hero: a roof tile
portraying the general Guan Yu
riding his horse. The tile was
made in North China sometime
between AD 1490-1620.
THE GREAT CALL OF
With 1.3 billion people – a quarter of the world’s population –
living in a country the size of Europe, an unparalleled
manufacturing base, and having hosted the 2008 Olympic
Games, interest in all things Chinese is, arguably, greater than
ever before. The timing is perfect then, for China: Journey to the
East – a British Museum touring exhibition supported by BP.
Hester Thomas finds out more.

BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 53

China: Journey to the East
Seen in profile, the horse’s mouth is agape as if it has just
been pulled up short. In the saddle, the small, solid figure of
a soldier turns to the viewer. Resplendent in armour and
helmet, his face is fearsome, the eyes narrowed and the lips
firmly set. He strokes his beard as if contemplating which
few, carefully selected, words he should use in rebuke. This,
it is clear, is a man of action.
Meet Guan Yu, a great general and Chinese
hero who was later deified and worshipped.
He appears on a roof tile, made in north
China during the Ming Dynasty some time
between 1490 and 1620. According to
traditional Chinese belief, roofs are
platforms of communication between the
world of the living and spirit realms.
Consequently, they were decorated to ward
off evil, as well as attract blessings and
good fortune.
This curious artefact is just one of more
than 100 that the British Museum is sending
on tour around England from 2009 to 2011,
in a fascinating and free exhibition – China:
Journey to the East. The British Museum holds
the nation’s finest Chinese collection, and
this will be the largest loan of Chinese
material that it has ever made in the UK.
However, as Jessica Harrison-Hall, curator of
Chinese ceramics at The British Museum, as
well as curator of this exhibition, explains,
“While these artefacts form the core of the
exhibition, each museum will add its own
collection or show items borrowed from
local institutions. So, every venue will
feature extra, different and exciting objects.”
China: Journey to the East is a CHINA
NOW legacy project and has major support
54 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
from BP. In addition, it has received funding
from the National/Regional Museum
Partnerships Education Programme 2008-
2009, a joint initiative between the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
and the Department for Children, Schools
and Families.
BP’s involvement in the exhibition and
tour came as the result of CHINA NOW
being formed to promote Chinese culture.
Running in the six months up to the 2008
Olympic Games, it grew to be the largest
festival of Chinese culture ever to take
place in the UK.
BP has substantial interests in China. It
first operated there in the early 1970s
and, currently, has a total investment
of more than $4.5 billion. Indeed, the
company is one of the country’s leading
foreign investors.
The timing of China: Journey to the East is
important. “One of the aims of CHINA
NOW was to create a legacy,” explains its
chief executive officer, Simon Heale. “We
wanted the British public – and especially
children – to learn more about China long
after the festival was over. This exhibition
will achieve just that.”
BP sought to channel support for
CHINA NOW through one of the four
major arts and cultural institutions with
which it has strong relationships. Via The
British Museum, National Portrait Gallery,
Royal Opera House and Tate Britain, the
company aims to make the best in arts and
culture accessible to as many people as
possible. “Around the same time that
CHINA NOW was in development, The
British Museum also presented a proposal
for a touring exhibition,” explains Des
Violaris, BP’s director of UK arts and
culture. “The exhibition would be on China
and included a substantial educational
programme, enabling it to reach many
more people. It was one of those
serendipitous moments when a perfect
solution, which will work for everyone,
presents itself.”
Neil MacGregor, director of the British
Museum, was especially pleased to find an
enthusiastic partner, as he explains,
“China’s history is one the world needs to
know, now more than ever before. China:
Journey to the East will give UK audiences an
insight into China’s cultural achievements
over the past 3,000 years to the present day.”
The exhibition’s launch announcement
was made during Chinese New Year 2008 at
Mass appeal: so many people attended The British Museum’s CHINA NOW festival in
2008 that it had to close its doors to the public for the first time in its history. the start of the CHINA NOW festival, in a
»

“One of the aims of CHINA NOW was to create a legacy.
We wanted the British public – and especially children –
to learn more about China long after the festival was
over. This exhibition will achieve just that.”
Simon Heale
Home wares: an abacus made of wood
with porcelain beads (opposite top)
made in Taiwan by Qian Haosun; an
openwork cake made of pastry (opposite
bottom) from the Xinjiang province, 8th
century AD; a stoneware wine jar with
‘fahua’-style decoration (below), made
in Shaanxi province, circa AD 1488-1505.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 55

China: Journey to the East
Ancient pottery: glazed
earthenware funerary
models of food in offering
dishes, circa AD 1450-1600.
spectacular day of celebration at The
British Museum. Supported by BP in
association with CHINA NOW and China
in London, the British Museum ran an
extensive programme featuring dance and
shadow puppet troupes, music, children’s
workshops, games, films and storytelling to
celebrate the Year of the Rat.
Arecord 35,602 people attended –
including the Chinese ambassador,
Madame Fu Ying, and her staff. For
the first time since it opened to the public
in 1759, the museum had to close its doors
due to overwhelming visitor numbers.
China: Journey to the East is based around
five themes, developed with the advice of
teachers in conjunction with the partner
museums. They are play and performance;
technology; beliefs and festivals; food and
drink; plus language and writing. Among
other features, the exhibition reveals some
of the many Chinese inventions that
became part of worldwide history: silk,
crossbows, stirrups, gunpowder, compasses,
paper and printing, the abacus and
porcelain. It also includes a handling
collection, with items such as spices,
games, costumes, musical instruments and
chopsticks, so that visitors can explore
objects further.
56 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
The cross-curricular educational
programme that complements China:
Journey to the East is targeted at schoolchildren
from seven to 14 years old, plus
their families and teachers. An important
aspect of the exhibition’s public programme
will be the role of Chinese communities in
the UK. All the venues have Chinese
neighbourhoods, including many twinning
arrangements with Chinese cities.
There have been well-established links
between China and Britain since the 17th
century, when China became a major
maritime trading nation. For many years,
the Chinese were transient visitors, but,
gradually, some settled in the UK. The 1851
census recorded just 78 Chinese-born
residents in England and Wales. However,
by 2004, some 143,500 Chinese people
were recorded living in Britain, with
growing numbers coming to study at UK
universities.
“We hope all visitors – regardless of age
or ethnicity – will be engaged by the five
themes, as well as the handling objects,”
says Frances Carey, senior consultant for
public engagement at The British Museum.
“Also, that they learn how China has a
resonance in all aspects of their lives in
ways that, perhaps, they never realised.” ■
China: Journey to the East opens at Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery on 24th January
2009 as part of the festivities for the Chinese Year of the Ox. It will stay there until
19th April 2009, then move on to:
— The Herbert, Coventry: 2nd May – 19th July 2009
— Willis Museum, Basingstoke: 1st August – 24th December 2009
— Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens: 29th January – 9th May 2010
— York Art Gallery: 22nd May – 5th September 2010
— Manchester Museum: 25th September 2010 – 26th June 2011
For more information, visit:
www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/touring_exhibitions_and_loans/china_journey_to_the_east.aspx

Top tankers
British Emperor
1916-1941
The British Emperor
(above) was the first
vessel to carry the
‘British’ name, a tradition
that continues today.
Her first voyage carried
fuel oil from Abadan in
Persia (now Iran) back to
the UK. On 7th May
1941, during a voyage
from Durban, South
Africa to Abadan, she
was captured and sunk
by the German raider
Pinguin at a position 480
km (300 miles) south,
southeast of Socotra, off
the coast of Yemen.
BP Shipping has a long, illustrious history spanning much
of the 20th century. During that time, it witnessed many
industry and company ‘firsts’.
1 3 5
British Valour
1927-1953
In 1942, the British
Valour became the first
of the company’s tankers
to carry out the
important task of
regularly refuelling HM
Escorts vessels while at
sea, on the UK to
Freetown, South Africa
route. In the same year,
BP suffered its worst
shipping losses of the
Second World War.
British Glory
1927-1954
First built in 1927, the
British Glory became the
first company vessel to
be fitted with a fore and
aft bridge in 1943 so that
it could carry out
refuelling duties while
still at sea. It also
suffered torpedo damage
in 1940 during the
Second World War.
British Explorer
1969-1981
The British Explorer was
the company’s first
215,000 dead weight
tonnage (dwt) very large
crude carrier (VLCC).
During the course of the
1970s, VLCCs of up to
270,000dwt began to
join the fleet. As the
vessel size grew,
numbers of tankers
decreased.
Factfile
British Trader
2002-
The British Trader was
one of the first of the
new ‘Trader’ class
double-hulled vessels
carrying liquefied
natural gas (LNG). These
vessels were the first to
be ordered for general
trading instead of on a
contract basis. In other
words, they were free to
trade wherever the
market took them,
instead of following a set
‘bus’ route.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 57

➔ environ m e n tal im pact Online measurement> BP Energy Lab
58 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
TESTING
YOUR
GREEN
CREDENTIALS

The launch of the BP Energy Lab builds on the company’s
highly successful carbon calculator to help individuals
discover ways to reduce their impact on the environment.
When BP launched its ‘carbon
calculator’ in 2005 as an online tool for
individuals to determine the impact of
their lifestyles on the environment, many
saw it as a somewhat surprising move.
What was a producer and retailer of fossil
fuels doing telling people about their
carbon footprint?
But the calculator was a resounding
success, receiving more than 1 million hits
in its first six months, and enjoying a 70%
completion rate. The website offered
people a means to reduce their impact on
the environment, while the company
looked at a range of alternative energies
and efficiencies to do the same in-house.
Since its launch, other corporates and
bodies, including governmental agencies
and environmental non-governmental
organisations, have introduced their own
versions, with varying degrees of success
and scientific basis.
»
Report> Helen Campbell
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 59

Environmental impact> BP Energy Lab
As the paradox between energy security,
the cost of energy and the environment
becomes more acute, BP is introducing an
updated version of the calculator. The new
BP Energy Lab is an innovative online
portal, that offers individuals a convenient
place to access a number of BP’s existing
online efficiency and environmental
impact measurement tools, along with
some new ones.
The site’s new Energy Calculator
updates many of the features of the
original version. Taking just minutes to
complete, the tool asks users for
information, including their country, size
of their house and number of occupants,
the number of short- and long-haul flights
taken, and car and train miles travelled in a
year. It then calculates the user’s energy
consumption in kilowatt-hours and the
carbon footprint in tonnes, weighed
against the country average. Visitors can
also access a well-stocked Energy Facts
“There is considerable
awareness of the need for
energy efficiency, coupled
with growing concern for
energy prices. We have
been able to add
capabilities to the
calculator that weren’t
available in 2005, such as
individuals’ energy usage
and ways to improve
energy efficiency.”
Kathy Leech
60 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
database, take an enlightening energy quiz,
or find energy efficiency tips.
BP Energy Lab also encompasses an
updated ‘targetneutral’ section, which
builds on the success of a programme BP
first launched in the UK in 2006.
targetneutral asks drivers to reduce, replace
and neutralise their vehicle’s
environmental impact by helping to fund
emissions reduction projects. The initiative
has neutralised more than 80,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide emissions to date, through
projects ranging from wind energy in India
to composting in Australia.
Green Streets
Two of the lab’s most exciting new
activities are the SimCity ‘Green Streets
Challenge’, where users design a town and
build its economy using alternative
energies, and the ‘Green Driving Test’. The
latter challenged several British journalists
to drive as many miles as possible, using
the same car and route, on exactly one litre
of BP Ultimate unleaded fuel. Results show
that it is often the driver, not the car, that
has the greater effect on the fuel
consumption and outputs of a journey.
Meanwhile, an ‘Energy Hero’ game
allows players to take Jackson the cartoon
dog, or one of his friends, for a walk to spot
ways they can save energy at home. They
can click to switch off lights, the television
and the tumble drier, or put ‘rubbish’ into
the recycling bin, the hope being that they
will transfer this into real life.
While the whole site has a clean,
engaging look and feel, employing a
friendly animated professor to help users
navigate through the various tools, its
developers have taken advantage of the
latest technical capability to bring it right
up to date.
“There is considerable awareness of the
need for energy efficiency, coupled with
growing concern about energy prices,” says

Kathy Leech, BP’s director of brand
communications. “We have been able to
add capabilities to the calculator that
weren’t available in 2005, such as
individuals’ energy usage and ways to
improve energy efficiency.
“The Energy Lab Calculator is built on
the same questions as the first version, but
is more interactive, with fun animation
and graphics, which we can do because of
increased online infrastructure.”
One common complaint against efforts
to explore issues such as climate change
and carbon usage is complexity, and a fear
of being blinded by science. As Mukta
Tandon, BP’s brand communications
manager, points out, BP Energy Lab
combines all the tools that the company
has developed and brings them under one
roof, so individuals can click on the tool
that’s best for them.
“The site aims to address the different
societal needs associated with energy that
are in evidence globally,” says Tandon.
“In the US, for example, the great
concern is energy security, while the
predominant issues in the UK are cost
and environmental impact.”
Environmental policies
The BP Energy Lab also hosts information
about BP’s environmental policies and
performance, including the BP
Sustainability Report, which details what
the company is doing all over the world to
minimise its own environmental impact.
“Talking about energy is not just about
whether we are switching lights on and
off,” says Tandon. “It is also about the fuel
in our cars, the amount of flying we do,
every aspect of life, and the direct
relationship between our lifestyles and our
carbon footprint. Anybody can access BP
Energy Lab, but it is particularly aimed at
people who are already passionate about
these issues, and who can see the difference
they could make if they did this and could
effect change in others.”
Even if the site calculates your footprint
as below average, there’s no excuse for not
trying to reduce it even further. What are
you waiting for? ■
● For more information, visit
www.bp.com/energylab
“The site aims to address
the different societal
needs associated with
energy that are in
evidence globally. In the
US, for example, the great
concern is energy security,
while the predominant
issues in the UK are cost
and environmental
impact.”
Mukta Tandon
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 61

ARCHIVE
62 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
Photography BP Archive

FAR EAST
FORTUNE
BP’s connections with China stretch
back to 1946 when it conducted an
expedition to the country. One year later,
the Anglo Persian Oil Company (China)
Ltd was formed. And in the 1970s it
began a trial sales period of its products.
Today, the company has a total
investment of more than $4.5 billion.
BP Magazine opens its Chinese archive.
Opposite: BP geologist Martin Strong and petroleum engineer W L Burns
during their 1946 expedition to Gansu province, to report on the oil
fields of China. Above: a seismic survey is carried out by BP in 1979, in
co-operation with the Petroleum Corporation of the People’s Republic of
China, in the southern portion of the Yellow Sea.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 63

ARCHIVE
64 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
Above: in 1983, an international
consortium, led by BP Petroleum
Development Ltd, was awarded
five exploration contracts offshore
China. At a ceremony in Beijing on
10th May, Mr Qin Wencai,
president of the China National
Offshore Oil Corporation, and Peter
Walters, BP’s chairman, together
with representatives of other
members of the consortium, signed
the joint venture co-operation
agreements. Right: drilling activity
onboard the semi-submersible rig
Nanhai II, in the South China Sea
in 1984.

Above: a BP customer, and his
ducks, visit the Dongguan
service station, in about 1997.
Left: an liquefied petroleum gas
dealer in Changle delivers
bottled gas by bicycle to rural
communities in 1997.
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 65

Parting shot
Freeze frame
Photographer Marc Morrison captures the Afro-Brazilian artform known as
Capoeira. Brought over from Angola during the 16th century, it incorporates
movements from martial arts, acrobatics and dance. “For years, I read about
Capoeira,” says Marc. After hours of searching newspapers and the internet,
he came across this group in São Paulo. “They invited me inside their circle to
experience just how close they get to striking their opponents and the fluidity
of movement. Pretty soon, not only did I witness the closeness, but felt the
wind from their lightening-fast legs. All in all, it was quite exhilarating.”
66 Issue 1 2009 BP MAGAZINE
Photography> Marc Morrison

The next edition of BP Magazine will be out in April 2009.
BP Magazine was printed using vegetable based printing
inks and low alcohol damping on press. The paper was
manufactured using 50% de-inked post consumer waste
fibre and 50% virgin fibre pulp sourced from well managed
forests at a mill accredited for EMAS, ISO14001 and FSC.
BP p.l.c
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