By Martin Banks - 11th October 2010
This is a victory for common sense
Struan Stevenson
MEPs have been accused of ‘failing to recognise' efforts made by Europe's oil and gas industry to prevent a repeat of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
The attack comes in the wake of last week's decision by the European parliament to overturn a call to end all new drilling in European waters.
Environment committee members had earlier voted in favour of a moratorium on drilling until uniform oil rig safety and procedures were introduced. But when the issue moved to the plenary last Thursday it was kicked into touch.
In its first reaction to the plenary vote, the body representing companies that produce more than half of the world's oil and over a third of its gas gave a mixed response.
Michael Engell-Jensen, executive director of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP), welcomed the decision to overturn the committee's recommendation.
But he said, "However, some of the measures suggested in the resolution failed to recognise the significant steps taken by the oil and gas industry since the Gulf of Mexico incident. Nor did the resolution fully take into account the performance track record of existing country-based regulations relating to deepwater drilling in Europe.
He said it was important to "learn the full lessons" from the accident in the Gulf of Mexico before deciding what, if any, action to take.
He stressed that "the tragic loss of life" and environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico should never be forgotten - or repeated.
"But it is important that the outcomes of the various investigations into the incident can be fully assessed before determining how the industry should respond.
"Before the BP incident, the oil and gas industry had safely drilled 14,000 deepwater wells, many of them in European waters.
"It should be recognised that comprehensive regulations already exist at country-levels within Europe, many of which have been further strengthened since the Gulf of Mexico incident," he said.
"Ensuring the continuing safety of oil and gas operations is a collaborative process that involves our industry with national and regional legislators, executive bodies, regulators and other stakeholders.
"We look forward to working closely with the European Institutions. Together, we can work for the safe and sustainable operations that provide the oil and gas on which Europe will continue to rely for decades to come," Engell-Jensen said.
Further reaction came from Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson who pointed out that the UK has a two-decade old history of safety despite 315 deepwater wells having been drilled since 1974.
Stevenson said, "Far too many jobs have been lost because of the Gulf of Mexico spill. It would seem crazy that we would want to create even more through our response.
"Parliament's decision is a victory for common sense and facts, not for alarmism and knee-jerk responses that are far too frequent from politicians in the EU.
"Our oil industry is renowned for its safety and security technology which we export worldwide. Initial indications show that systems in place in UK waters would have been much better placed to handle an incident like that in the Gulf of Mexico.
"There will be a review into safety procedures in all drilling operations following the devastating spill off the USA and we must remain vigilant to any risks to the environment. However, we also cannot shut down an entire industry around the UK when our safety culture here is totally different and the track record is strong.
"We risked sending the global oil industry a terrible signal that would have jeopardised millions, if not billions, of euros worth of orders for our state-of-the-art technology. Instead, we have said that we will learn the lessons of the Gulf of Mexico disaster without sending our valuable oil industry up in smoke."
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