April 1997 sees the start of production from the newest of the UK's offshore oil reservoirs, the Foinaven Field. Discovered in 1992, Foinaven lies in what has become known as the Atlantic Frontier Some 120 miles (19Okm) west of the Shetlands, with water up to almost 2,OOO feet (600 metres) deep, it constitutes a major new challenge for the men and women working offshore and the support staff backing them up from onshore. This extension of oil production into a new area has aroused concerns among environmentally aware people, who understandably want to ensure -as do BP - that the project goes ahead with the minimum possible adverse effect on the area. They have also questioned whether new oil supplies are necessary or, indeed, desirable. We hope this pamphlet will answer some of the most commonly asked questions put to us here at BP on the project.

A The North Sea fields will not last for ever - indeed, several are already in decline, despite the efforts of BP and others to use modern technology to extract oil previously regarded as unrecoverable.

Foinaven will not increase UK Continental Shelf production, it will merely offset this decline.

Although Foinaven will be the first producing field West of Shetland, oil exploration is not new in the area.

It has been under way since the early 1970's and around 150 wells have been drilled. The first - the giant, but so far uncommercial, Clair field - was discovered in 1977.

Foinaven holds somewhere between 250-500 million barrels of oil and production could peak at over 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Other viable or potential fields have been discovered in the area - the larger Schiehallion is expected to start production in mid-1998, and the recently-announced Suilven is still being evaluated to establish if it contains commercially viable quantities of crude.

Although relatively small by world standards, Foinaven and the other West of Shetland fields will create or sustain thousands of jobs both offshore and onshore, provide millions of pounds in revenue for the Government and save valuable foreign reserves by reducing the amount of oil the UK has to import.

Q Doesn't this just mean more fossil fuel burned, producing more 'greenhouse gases' and further increases in global warming?

A Without oil, this country - and virtually every other nation - would simply grind to a halt. We depend on oil for heat, light and almost more products than can be listed here, ranging from plastics to detergents.

UK oil reserves account for 0.4% of the world total. When at full production, Foinaven will make up 0.14% of world supplies.

BP regards global warming as a serious issue and actively participates in the debate to find solutions to this problem. BP Solar, our solar power subsidiary, is the second-largest company of its type world-wide, and has just signed a deai with the Philippine Government for a solar project that will be the largest of it's kind in the world.

Q Why is BP using a new type of floating production vessel in such stormy waters - would a conventional plafform not be safer?

A The water depth west of Shetland does not allow a standard, fixed platform to be used. Following extensive investigations, a floating production, storage and off-loading (FPS0) system was selected for Foinaven.

The FPS0 is a combined oil and gas processing plant and storage vessel, capable of processing 120,000 barrels of oil daily and storing it for off-loading on to two tankers that will operate a shuttle service to onshore oil terminals. The FPS0, named Petrojarl Foinaven, has already been on station for several months and has stood up to the winter weather with no difficulty.

The Norwegian company that operates the FPS0 has eight years' experience with a sister vessel, loading more than 1,000 cargoes on to tankers. In that time, there has only been one oil spill - less than a single barrel.

And more than 60% of oil produced by Norway - one of the world's most environmentally-conscious nations - is exported by offshore loading.

Q You're not trying to tell us that you've managed to eliminate all risks?

A No, we're not. Which is why BP's Environmental Assessment for the Foinaven field (which looks at potential environmental risks and details the measures to be taken in the event of a problem) is one of the most detailed ever undertaken for an offshore development.

The Environmental Assessment is the product of over two years of studies and research. Throughout the process our findings were shared with international, national and local organisations - everyone from the World Wide Fund for Nature to Scottish National Heritage, the island councils covering the Orkney and Shetland Isles and fishing and salmon farming groups. Friends of the Earth (Shetland) praised our efforts to communicate with local organisations in drawing up the Assessment. BP is using submarine tracking devices to help plot the paths of migrating whales in the deep waters west of Shetland to enable us to plan our operations accordingly and so minimise any disturbance caused by our activities.

Q So, what will you do if there is an escape of oil?

A If an accident did occur, despite all our rigorous precautions, BP and many of the organisations consulted during the Assessment have drawn up a West of Shetland Oil Spill Contingency Plan. This plan has been designed to dovetail with the Government's oil spill plans and has three 'layers'. Should oil be spilled, the newly built support vessel, the Grampian Frontier, is equipped with dispersants to spray on any oil and can lay a huge boom to contain any leaking crude while the Petrojarl Foinaven has specialised equipment to support the spraying of dispersants by helicopter. In addition, extra oil spill equipment has been stockpiled in Shetland and Orkney and emergency training has been given to the islands' salmon farmers in the event of an accident. BP has also developed a computer programme especially for the area to predict the direction of any floating oil, allowing equipment to be moved promptly to the correct stretches of coastline. The company can also call on industry experts in Aberdeen, Dundee and the well-respected Oil Spill Response Centre at Southampton, which is on 24 hour stanby to respond to oil spills anywhere in the world.

In Conclusion

Wresting oil from the waters west of Shetland will be a challenging, possibly arduous, task. We at BP believe that we can do the job to benefit our workforce, our suppliers, and ultimately the nation as a whole, safely and without significant environmental risk.