Environment Report 2017

• The amount of waste generated through the UK’s upstream oil and gas activity fell by 22 per cent to under 170,000 tonnes in 2016 – the lowest in a decade. This is primarily due to reduced operational waste. Accidental Releases and Discharges • In 2016, there were 520 unplanned releases of oil and chemicals to the marine environment with a total mass of around 370 tonnes. Accidental release data are sensitive to low frequency, high mass release events. • Of these, 287 were unplanned releases of almost 115 tonnes of oil. This represents less than 0.00014 per cent of total production and less than 6 per cent of the total oil that entered the marine environment in produced water.

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• The average mass of oil released per occurrence was 0.4 tonnes in 2016, compared with an average of 0.6 tonnes per occurrence from 2010-16. The average total mass released per year from 2010-16 was almost 172 tonnes.

• Almost 258 tonnes of chemicals were accidentally released in 233 incidents in 2016. Of these, the majority (215 tonnes, 84 per cent) were low hazard or PLONOR.

• Unplanned chemical releases represented less than 0.1 per cent of the total mass of chemicals used and 0.25 per cent of the chemicals intentionally discharged under permit.

• In 2016, the average mass of chemicals per release was 1.1 tonnes, compared to an average of 2.3 tonnes from 2010-16.

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