Application of a companywide environmental management system (EMS) and guidelines is a best practice for environmental performance assurance in the oil and gas industry because it helps to institutionalize environmental protection efforts. While implementation of these systems and guidelines is a very positive step toward promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship, it sometimes fall short of fulfilling this goal with regards to designing and developing the most sustainable new projects possible. A key to this shortcoming is the alternatives analysis element of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. The EIA process is typically a company's first in-depth look at environmental components of a project and proper application can make the difference in defining the sustainability of development projects. EIA is most valuable when used not only to help identify, predict, evaluate and mitigate potential impacts of proposed developments upstream in the decision-making process, but to support a robust decision-making process about the basic design and scope of the project. Environmental and social impacts of projects tend to be readily predictable, but unfortunately not readily quantifiable. Therefore, decision making tools used in alternatives analysis may not adequately reflect the external environmental and social costs associated with a given project. For this reason, economic and technological considerations are often unintentionally prioritized in the decision making process and become the true driving force of early project decision making. Environmental and social concerns are less often addressed up front, and are more often addressed in the EIA's Environmental Management Plan (EMP) where they are managed over the life of the project and sometimes beyond. While EMPs are vital to minimizing and mitigating environmental and social impacts, there are risks to allowing environmental and social concerns to be addressed only after most technical and design planning has been largely finalized. This paper will demonstrate the importance of addressing environmental and social considerations through EIA alternatives analysis early in the project decision-making process, review cases in which this has or has not been accomplished and review tools that can be used by decision makers to support alternatives analysis in EIA. The tools explored, sustainability appraisal, true cost accounting, scenario planning and modeling software, take into consideration the true costs of environmental and social impacts. Their application in EIA alternatives analysis can help assure more sustainable projects. Introduction The international oil and gas industry has made great advances during the last 20 years in using environmental impact assessment (EIA) to minimize adverse environmental impacts of capital developments. Particular progress has been made in identifying and designing mitigation measures needed to address potentially adverse impacts, and more recently in using the EIA process as a mechanism to engage stakeholder dialogue. Often, however, companies miss opportunities to enhance the sustainability of projects by using EIA to drive a deep and robust evaluation of alternatives to proposed project designs. This paper presents a case for using robust alternatives analysis in the EIA process to improve the long term value and reliability of capital developments. It starts with background on the history and status of alternatives analysis as a tool in the EIA process, presents case studies demonstrating how deep alternatives analysis has or could have improved project success, and describes what emerging methods and tools are available to help project teams and EIA practitioners comparatively evaluate the environmental impacts of alternatives in a manner that supports good project decision-making.

Ghana is blessed with a wealth of new-found oil and gas resources. Discovery of the giant Jubilee field has given Ghana's leaders a sense of great opportunity and an equally great responsibility to avoid falling subject to the "oil curse". To help manage this balance, in 2010 the World Bank and the Norwegian government extended $58 million dollars in financing to help Ghana build systems to responsibly govern the development of its oil and gas resources. However, in putting this aid to good use Ghana must first understand and build consensus across various agencies and other stakeholders regarding its own needs for capacity building. In 2011 Ghana's Ministry of Environment and Kosmos Energy undertook a "Needs Assessment of Capacity Building for Environmental Governance and Regulation of the Oil and Gas Industry" in an effort to establish this basis for progress. The study included interviews and workshops with dozens of stakeholders, and integration of the findings and recommendations of studies by government agencies, finance organizations, NGOs and other organizations regarding environmental governance in Ghana. The study identified ten high level need categories and specified 57 actions needed to make progress on strengthening the governance and regulatory systems to better manage future oil and gas activities. The Ministry intends to use the Assessment and associated Capacity Building plan as a needs-based foundation for building Ghana's capacity to better govern the environmental and social concerns associated with its oil boom.

TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractPetrobras, one of the world's leading oil and gas producers, strives to also be a leader in environmental, health, and safety (EHS) performance. A series of accidents in 2000 and 2001 have prompted Petrobras to totally rethink and rebuild its EHS function and means of delivering EHS assurance. The results to date include bold changes, including a re-organization of the corporate EHS function, an EHS strategy and integration of objectives and EHS targets into its corporate strategy/business plan, and development of a series of target, world-class management programs and capital improvement projects. This paper highlights some of the advances to date and how they have been realized.

Successful development of international exploration and production (E&P) projects is increasingly dependent on managing social and stakeholder concerns. Critical to this success is a balance between the need for international best practices and local leadership of stakeholder engagement (SE) programs. As international practitioners, we see the following critical trends emerging:There has been significant progress in developing SE best practices/methods in recent years;Few host country social experts have been exposed to these developing practices/methods; andDespite this, experts from within host countries are typically in the best position to execute these programs because they:○Understand the social customs, language, and culture○Are known and more trusted by regulators and residents The authors argue that to better manage this balance, international oil and gas companies and their consultants need to commit to two-way capacity building that simultaneously:Conveys best practices from international oil companies, financial institutions and ESHIA practitioners to capable local consultants; andCommunicates to international parties and practitioners the value of stakeholder engagement being led by qualified local experts. Through a series of case studies, this paper demonstrates how the challenge of effectively managing international SE programs can impact development projects and how the recommended approach can help meet this challenge. The paper provides conclusions and recommendations for how to improve capacity building activities and optimize opportunities for local involvement in stakeholder consultation. Introduction Environmental impact assessment has progressed significantly since its inception in the 1970's to the increased application of integrated environmental, social and health impact assessment (ESHIA) in recent years. Despite this progress, E&P projects continue to face unpredictable social concerns that need to be effectively managed in order to ensure successful project development. As each project has unique socio-economic and cultural factors, effective SE is needed to help proponents identify stakeholder concerns. Through a series of case studies, this paper will demonstrate various challenges that practitioners face, and how the use of SE best practices can mitigate these concerns. The authors argue that to further minimize these obstacles, international industry and its ESHIA and SE practitioners, including outside consultants, need to commit to two-way capacity building where industry:conveys internationally recognized best practices to local experts who are best positioned to lead SE programs, andappreciates and learns from local experts and accept the value of local leadership for SE.

Oil and gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico face a number of important risks. Traditionally, social performance and third-party stakeholder risks do not tend to be among those that receive the highest priority attention. While this level of attention is likely appropriate under normal operating conditions, advance planning and preparations for managing social risks have become critical to emergency preparedness. This paper discusses the importance of crisis-ready, community-based stakeholder engagement to managing emergencies in this operating environment, and what operators can do to strengthen emergency response planning through improved social risk management. Despite the financial, reputational and environmental costs resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, industry actors count on strong stakeholder support for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Economically, the region depends on the industry for jobs, spending, and taxes. Stakeholder engagement is often limited to local, regional, and national regulatory and elected officials, or industry groups. Many of the GOM operators' social performance management efforts are focused on philanthropy, supporting education and local businesses, and employee/labor pool engagement. The oil and gas industry has learned important lessons about how critical stakeholder engagement and community support is to protecting value. Nonetheless, operators still sometimes underestimate the dynamic, multifaceted community relationships in Gulf Coast communities. The level of understanding and response to stakeholder concerns on the local level can distinguish companies when negative incidents occur. Strong relationships with local civil society are invaluable in emergency response situations, especially when existing feedback mechanisms are well-known and utilized. Successful operations in the GOM may not require the same level of stakeholder engagement rigor as operations in conflict-affected, on-shore operating environments. But they do need risk-based applications of current good international industry practices that are both fit-for-purpose and capable of functioning effectively both in normal operating conditions and crisis conditions. Even in areas with decades of industry activity, world-class stakeholder engagement strategies are critical to managing health, safety and environmental, and business risks, especially in preparation for potential emergencies.