Environment Report 2015

ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2015

4. Environmental Performance Benchmarking In 2015, Oil & Gas UK carried out a benchmarking exercise for operators reporting data into the EEMS dataset to gain an overview of their relative environmental performance. This was conducted on an anonymous basis; companies are allocated a letter for each category, to represent their ranking in that context. A selection of variables from the 2014 EEMS data are benchmarked and/or compared in this analysis, providing insight into cross-industry emissions and discharge trends and an understanding of how patterns are developing over time. There is no single over-riding trend, but by providing each company with individual rankings, the operators can evaluate their own performance in the context of the industry as a whole. Areas of concerning or promising performance can then be identified, with an aim of achieving maximum possible industry-wide emissions efficiency. This work will be taken forward by the Oil & Gas UK Operators Technical Group. 4.1 Methodology Benchmarking was carried out by grouping EEMS variables by operator, ranking them and assigning a code for each individual graph. The result is a set of graphs where one operator may be ranked A, or first in one category, and Z, or 26th, in another. In this way a single operator’s performance cannot be traced from one graph to another. Each individual operator will be informed of their rankings in each category, without the ability to attribute environmental performance to other companies. Given the varied scale and type of operations on the UKCS, benchmarked rankings may not truly reflect some individual environmental performances, but allow a general understanding to be developed. 4.2 Benchmarking Oil in Produced Water Produced water can contain small quantities of naturally occurring reservoir products. It is sampled on a daily basis offshore and the hydrocarbon content recorded in EEMS. OSPAR Recommendation 2001/1 requires individual installations to have annual average oil in water concentrations of less than 30 mg/l, while individual monthly samples must contain less than 100 mg/l 42 . Average oil in water concentration is the result of several factors, which means that those operators with higher valuesmay havemore assets, greater production totals andmay produce heavier hydrocarbons. This benchmarking therefore provides a general picture of industry oil in water performance but cannot be interpreted as some operators performing better than others.

42 These limits are specified in The Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005 Guidance Notes, available at http://bit.ly/1Qkdhz5

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