EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 24.9.2021 COM(2021) 585 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Annual Report on the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations in the European Union for the Year 2019



























REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Annual Report from the European Commission on the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations for the Year 2019



Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION 2. LEGAL BASIS 3. METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM MEMBER STATES 4. THE OFFSHORE SECTOR FOR OIL AND GAS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 4.1 Installations and production 4.2 Offshore inspections, investigations, enforcement actions and regulatory framework 5. INCIDENT DATA AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF OFFSHORE OPERATIONS 6. CONCLUSIONS 1. INTRODUCTION Following earlier publications for 2016, 2017 and 2018, this European Commission report provides data on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in the European Union (EU) in 2019.

The legal basis for this report is Directive 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations and amending Directive 2004/35/EC (‘Offshore Safety Directive’). This legislation aims at achieving a high level of safety in offshore oil and gas operations, for the benefit of: (i) workers; (ii) the environment; (iii) offshore platforms and equipment; and (iv) economic activities such as fishing and tourism. The Directive, as implemented by Member States, will help to: (i) prevent major accidents; (ii) reduce the number of incidents; and (iii) ensure effective follow-up of accidents and incidents in order to mitigate their consequences. As in the earlier reports, the purpose of this annual report is: (i) to provide data on the number and type of installations in the EU; (ii) to give information on safety incidents in these installations; and (iii) to make an assessment of the safety performance of offshore oil and gas operations. With every additional report, the analysis of trends will become more meaningful. Furthermore, the series of annual reports will serve as a record of safety performance in Member States’ offshore oil and gas activities. This report is based on annual reports and data notified by Member States as required by the Offshore Safety Directive. The Commission has received reports from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom (which was still an EU Member State in 2019). Most of the installations are located in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean (366 installations), while there are 165 installations in the Mediterranean Sea, 9 in the Black Sea and 2 in the Baltic Sea. In 2019, the competent authorities of the Member States inspected 337 offshore installations in their jurisdictions. Following certain incidents, three Member States (the United Kingdom, Italy and Romania) carried out investigations during the reporting period. The United Kingdom carried out 39 investigations for safety and environmental concerns, and 2 investigations for major accidents. Italy carried out 1 investigation of a major accident (no investigation on safety and environmental concerns) and Romania carried out 1 investigation on safety and environmental concerns. 2. LEGAL BASIS In accordance with Article 25 of the Offshore Safety Directive, the Commission is required to publish an annual report on the safety and environmental impact of offshore oil and gas operations based on information reported by Member States. Member States must submit to the Commission an annual report containing information specified in Annex IX (point 3) of the Offshore Safety Directive. The annual reports to be submitted by Member States under Article 25 must contain, as a minimum, the following information: (a) the number, age and location of installations; (b) the number and type of inspections and investigations carried out, in addition to any enforcement actions or convictions; (c) incident data under the common reporting system required in Article 23; (d) any major change in the offshore regulatory framework; (e) the performance of offshore oil and gas operations. The deadline for Member States to publish the required information is 1 June of the year following the reporting period (e.g. 1 June 2020 for the year 2019). The Member States must report using a common format provided by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1112/2014 of 13 October 2014. This Implementing Regulation sets a common format for: (i) sharing information on major hazard indicators by the operators and owners of offshore oil and gas installations; and (ii) publishing information on major hazard indicators by Member States. A Commission guidance document of 25 November 2015 provides further specific information on the Implementing Regulation, and explains how to use the reporting format. 3. METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM MEMBER STATES Under Annex IX (point 3) of the Offshore Safety Directive, Member States are obliged to submit clearly defined information on safety incidents in their offshore oil and gas sector, using the templates provided by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1112/2014. The data submitted must include information on the offshore oil and gas installations in the EU, such as number, type, location and age. Reports from Member States must also provide information on the number of: (i) offshore inspections, investigations and enforcement actions taken; (ii) incidents by category; and (iii) injuries. In addition to data on individual Member States, the Commission has assessed the safety performance of offshore regions. For this purpose, the Commission considers: (i) Germany, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands as the North Sea and Atlantic region; (ii) Spain, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy and Malta as the Mediterranean region; (iii) Bulgaria and Romania as the Black Sea region; and (iv) Latvia and Poland as the Baltic Sea region. For its annual report for 2019, the Commission has used information provided by Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom. Other Member States were not active in the offshore oil and gas sector or did not submit information relevant for this report.

All Member States with offshore oil and gas operations declared they had submitted complete data on all installations. 4. THE OFFSHORE SECTOR FOR OIL AND GAS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 4.1 Installations and production The vast majority of offshore installations in EU waters are located in the North Sea (see Table 1), specifically in the exclusive economic zones of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (approximately 32% and 28% of offshore installations in EU waters, respectively). In the Mediterranean, Italy is the most active Member State (26% of all installations in EU waters) followed by Croatia. In the Black Sea region, Romania has an established offshore oil and gas industry, while Bulgaria has continued exploration activities for offshore hydrocarbons, but only has one installation and therefore produces very little. According to the reports received from Member States on the Baltic Sea, only Poland has offshore installations in this region. In total, there were 542 installations reported in EU waters in 2019 , which constitutes an decrease of 14 installations compared to 2018.

Region/Country Type of installation(*) FMI NUI FNP FPI Total Baltic Sea 1 1 0 0 2 Poland 1 1 0 0 2 Black Sea 6 3 0 0 9 Bulgaria 0 1 0 0 1 Romania 6 2 0 0 8 Mediterranean 16 147 0 2 165 Croatia 2 18 0 0 20 Greece 1 1 0 0 2 Italy 12 126 0 2 140 Spain 1 2 0 0 3 North Sea and Atlantic 139 204 0 23 366 Denmark 10 20 0 0 30 Germany 2 0 0 0 2 Ireland 1 1 0 0 2 The Netherlands 47 109 0 0 156 United Kingdom 79 74 0 23 176 TOTAL 162 355 0 25 542 (*) FMI – Fixed, manned installation; FNP – Fixed, non-production installation; FPI – Floating production installation; NUI – (Normally) Un-attended installation. In 2019, there were 11 installations reported as decommissioned in EU waters: 4 in the United Kingdom, 6 in the Netherlands and 1 in Romania. In the same year, 2 new fixed installations were reported as entering into operation, 1 in the Netherlands and 1 in Poland. More than half of the offshore installations in EU waters entered into operation between 1980 and 2000. Since 2010, the development of new production installations has dropped noticeably in the North Sea and Atlantic region (Table 2). Year of construction Region Baltic Sea Black Sea Mediterranean North Sea & Atlantic EU total (not available) 0 0 0 4 4 1960-1969 0 0 7 16 23 1970-1979 0 1 14 45 60 1980-1989 0 2 53 78 133 1990-1999 1 3 42 112 158 2000-2009 1 3 40 71 115 2010-2019 0 0 9 41 50 2020-2029 0 0 0 0 0 Total 2 9 165 367 543



The largest part (approximately 96%) of the EU’s domestic oil and gas is produced in the North Sea and Atlantic region (Table 3). The United Kingdom is by far the largest contributor, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark. Italy and Croatia are active producers in the Mediterranean Sea. In the Black Sea, only Romania currently has a noticeable output of oil and gas. REGION Country ktoe % of EU Total Baltic Sea 215.18 0.18% Poland 215.18 0.18% Black Sea 1 260.02 1.05% Bulgaria 11.99 0.01% Romania 1 248.03 1.04% Mediterranean 3 423.02 2.84% Croatia 361.90 0.30% Greece 172.00 0.14% Italy 2 850.00 2.37% Spain 39.12 0.03% North Sea and Atlantic 115 442.58 95.93% Denmark 7 814.74 6.49% Germany 837.00 0.70% Ireland 239.18 0.20% The Netherlands 10 295.00 8.55% United Kingdom 96 082.40 79.84% Total 12 0340.79 100.00%

Compared to the preceding year, total production of oil and gas in the EU increased by 7%.

4.2 Offshore inspections, investigations, enforcement actions and regulatory framework The competent authorities of the Member States have regularly inspected the offshore installations in their jurisdictions. Table 4 presents the number of offshore inspections carried out during the reporting year. The number of inspections usually increases with the number of installations in Member States. Compared to 2018, the number of inspected installations increased markedly in 2019 in Poland, Romania, Croatia, Greece and the Netherlands (in the Netherlands, installations rose from 28 to 50). Several Member States reported more work days spent on the installations to carry out inspections. In contrast, Italy carried out fewer inspections compared to the preceding year. REGION Country Inspections Work days spent on installation (travel time not included) Number of inspected installations Baltic Sea 4 8 4 Poland 4 8 4 Black Sea 23 96 11 Romania 23 96 11 Mediterranean 204 210 84 Croatia 9 11 8 Cyprus 1 4 1 Greece 2 26 3 Italy 191 168 71 Spain 1 1 1 North Sea & Atlantic 366 2 553 238 Denmark 23 72 19 France 1 2 1 Germany 5 5 2 Ireland 3 28 2 The Netherlands 59 34 50 United Kingdom 275 2 412 164 TOTAL 597 2 866 337 Article 18 of the Offshore Safety Directive attributes rights and powers to the competent authorities of Member States on operations and installations in their jurisdiction. These rights and powers include: (i) the right to prohibit operations; and (ii) the right to request measures for both ensuring compliance with the general principles of risk management and ensuring safe operations. Three Member States carried out investigations during the reporting period: the United Kingdom, Italy and Romania. In addition to 2 investigations of major accidents, the United Kingdom carried out 39 investigations for safety and environmental reasons. Italy carried out 1 investigation for a major accident, and Romania carried out 1 investigation related to safety and environmental concerns. Fewer investigations were carried out in 2019 (43) than in 2018 (50). In previous years, there were 20 investigations in 2017 and 23 in 2016. The total number of enforcement actions in 2019 was lower than in 2018. Although Member States took 33 enforcement actions in 2018 (all of these were taken by the United Kingdom), in 2019 only 24 such actions were carried out (23 by the United Kingdom and 1 by the Netherlands). 5. INCIDENT DATA AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF OFFSHORE OPERATIONS Operators/owners of installations and Competent Authorities report single events. However, one or several categories of incidents may describe such event: For example two incident categories have to be notified for one event, if there was an (i) unintended release of gas, which required the (ii) evacuation of personnel. For 2019, Member States submitted information on 156 reportable events (up from 120 in 2018. The bullet points below give more detail on these events. - In the United Kingdom, there were 126 reportable events, including 2 major accidents. The causes of the major accidents have not been reported, since the cases were still under investigation at the time of reporting. - In the Netherlands, there were 18 reportable events, including 1 major accident. The causes of the major accident are still under investigation. -In Italy, there were 2 reportable events, including 1 major accident. The causes of the major accident have not been reported, since the case was still under investigation at the time it was notified. -In Denmark, there were 6 reportable events. There was no major accident. -In Romania, there were 4 reportable events. There was no major accident. The number of major accidents includes incidents with a significant potential to cause fatalities or serious personal injuries even if they did not lead to such outcomes.

Most of the incidents (43%) belong to the category of unintended releases of gas and/or oil, while 3.75% concerned the loss of well control (blowout/diverter activation and well-barrier failures), and 2.5% concerned failures of safety and environmental critical elements (SECE). A further 0.94% were vessel-collision incidents, while 0.63% concerned the loss of structural integrity of the installation, and 0.31% concerned helicopter accidents (1 event). Two incidents required the evacuation of personnel and, for the first time since reporting, 1 incident resulted in the loss of life. Annex IX categories Total Share (of category total) Share (of events total) (a) Unintended releases – Total 138 100% 43.13% Ignited oil/gas releases – Fires 4 2.90% 1.25% Ignited oil/gas releases – Explosions 0 0.00% 0.00% Not ignited gas releases 76 55.07% 23.75% Not ignited oil releases 52 37.68% 16.25% Hazardous-substance releases 6 4.35% 1.88% (b) Loss of wells – Total 12 100% 3.75% Blowouts 0 0.00% 0.00% Blowout/diverter activation 7 58.33% 2.19% Well-barrier failure 5 41.67% 1.56% (c) Failures of SECE 8 100% 2.50% (d) Loss of structural integrity – Total 2 100% 0.63% Loss of structural integrity 2 100.00% 0.63% Loss of stability/buoyancy 0 0.00% 0.00% Loss of station keeping 0 0.00% 0.00% (e) Vessel collisions 3 100% 0.94% (f) Helicopter accidents 1 100% 0.31% (g) Fatal accidents(*) 1 100% 0.31% (h) Serious injuries of 5 or more people in the same accident 0 0.00% 0.00% (i) Evacuation of personnel 2 100% 0.63% (j) Environmental accidents(**) 1 100% 0.31% Total 168 100% (*) Only if related to a major accident. (**) According to reports of Member States, the major accidents did not qualify as environmental accidents. In the EU, the total number of incidents increased from 42 in 2016 to 59 in 2017, 124 in 2018, and 168 in 2019. This increase has largely been due to an increased number of ‘unintended releases’ of both oil and gas. In contrast, incidents in the categories ‘loss of well control’ and ‘releases of hazardous substances’ declined between 2016 and 2019. Remarkably, SECE failures increased from 2 to 8 incidents between 2016 and 2019. In 2019, Member States’ competent authorities reported 3 vessel collisions, 1 helicopter accident and 1 fatal accident; but in 2018 no such incidents occurred in Member States. As in 2018, personnel had to be evacuated from platforms twice in 2019. In 2019, 4 incidents (in 2018: 6 incidents) were classified as major accidents, since they could have potentially caused fatalities or serious personal injury. Although the number of major accidents decreased between 2016 and 2019, as shown above, the number of incidents, specifically unintended releases, continued its upward trend over this period. 6. CONCLUSIONS With 543 installations in the EU, the number of installations decreased in 2019 compared to the preceding year (556 in 2018). However, the level of overall oil and gas production slightly increased from 112 217 ktoe of oil equivalent in 2018 to 120 340 ktoe of oil equivalent in 2019. The Commission assessed the safety of the EU’s offshore oil and gas operations based on the data provided by Member States according to the rules of the Implementing Regulation on reporting. This means that the accuracy of the Commission’s analysis depends on the information submitted by Member States. In 2019, Member States’ competent authorities have redoubled their efforts to ensure a high level of safety in offshore oil and gas operations. They increased the number of inspected installations from 318 in 2018 to 337 in 2019. However, the follow-up in the form of enforcement actions in 2019 was less than in 2018. Only the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (1 action) reported on follow-up actions taken in 2019. In the United Kingdom, the number of enforcement actions further decreased from 34 in 2018 to 23 in 2019. While for all Member States, the number of major accidents in the EU decreased from 6 to 4 between 2018 and 2019, the total number of incidents in all Member States (assigned to categories of Table 5) increased from 124 (2018) to 168. One fatality was reported for 2019, and 101 injuries and 45 serious injuries occurred. On positive developments, the number of incidents in Denmark decreased from 9 in 2018 to 6 in 2019. This follows on from Denmark’s successful reduction in accidents between 2017 and 2018. With the objective of improving a high level of safety, in the coming year the Commission will work closely with the European Union Offshore Authorities Group (EUOAG) to bring back the number of incidents to a lower level in the EU, notably by further promoting the application of best practices in all Member States and assisting national authorities represented in the EUOAG.