WATCHING GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ACCENT IN SOUTH AMERICA

Latin American and U.S. oil companies have launched talks aimed at improving environmental safeguards in their South American operations.

Although oil developments in South America generally have been conducted responsibly, there have been unnecessary environmental damage and some serious spills. Governments hold all mineral rights, and citizens often development programs.

Yet oil demand is soaring in South America and governments are doing all they can to promote exploration.

JOINT EFFORT

Last year, Bill White, deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy, underscored the need for a government/industry effort to coordinate programs and policies that would minimize pollution from oil and gas operations.

White said, "God's planet doesn't exist just in North America. We're concerned about environmental degradation regardless of where it occurs.

"That's why it is a goal of this agency and this administration to demonstrate that environmental presentation is fully compatible with careful resource development."

So last May DOE sponsored a conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, attended by representatives of 15 multinational and state owned oil and gas companies.

Participants generally agreed that a permanent environmental working group or center should be set up to facilitate industry interaction with governments and nongovernment groups.

They said an industry organization could coordinate oil companies' activities in specific regions to increase effectiveness and lower costs of their environmental management.

DOE said, "The companies suggested government and industry need to be better partners, especially in the environmental arena. Government needs to focus its statutory requirements and improve its enforcement, and companies must be vested in the process through effective self-regulation.

"A central theme of this refocusing would be for government and industry to tailor regulations to the real operational risks of exploration and production activity."

DATA CENTER

At a follow-up meeting in Quito, Ecuador, last fall, participants reached a consensus that the oil industry should set up a South American environmental data center.

It would track environmental regulations and technology/equipment inventories, including oil spill response equipment, and help companies consult local environmental and native groups before production begins.

Participants have taken that recommendation back to their corporate chiefs or government leaders for approval.

More meetings are planned and could lead to further cooperation.

A DOE official said that could lead to a unique oil industry effort to prevent native, environmental, and governmental conflicts.

"Companies (in Latin America) are saying, 'We want to know up front from governments and nongovernment organizations what the requirements will be when we discover that 200 million bbl oil field.'"