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COM (84) 272 
 
 
 
Vol. 1984/0 125 
  
 
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concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique 
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003 
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 
concerning the openi ng to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
Community and the European Atomic Energy Communit y (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as 
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243, 
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file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.  
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom  1. 
Februar 198 3 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen  
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgem einschaft (ABI. L 43 vom  15.2.1983,  
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
C O M(84) 272 final
Brussels, 17th M ay 1984
C O M M U N IC A TIO N  F R O M  T H E  C O M M ISSIO N T O  T H E  CO U N C IL  
C O N C E R N IN G  T H E  P R O G R A M M E  O F  S U P P O R T  F O R  C O M M U N IT Y  P R O JE C T S  
IN TH E  H Y D R O C A R B O N  S E C T O R
C O M(84) 272 final

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Com IfZ
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL  
CONCERNING THE PROGRAMME OF SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY  
PROJECTS IN THE HYDROCARBONS SECTOR
C O N T E N T S
I. INTRODUCTION p> 3
II. THE PROGRAMME OF SUPPORT 3
III. REASONS FOR CONTINUING WITH THE PROGRAMME 6
IV. IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE TO THE PROGRAMME 7
V. CONCLUSIONS 14

Communication from the Commission to the Council  
concerning the programme of support for Community projects  
in the hydrocarbons sector
I. INTRODUCTION
1. When the Council examined the ninth series of Community projects in  
the hydrocarbons sector, the Commission announced it would carry out  
an overall evaluation of the programme of Community support in this  
field pursuant to Regulation No. 3056/731.
2. On 4 October 1983 the Commission sent the Council and the European  
Parliament its annual report on the main results of the application of  
Regulation No. 3056/73 ,  a document containing, among other things,  
information about the budgetary aspects of the programme, in part­
icular the repayment of subsidies.
3. This paper, which complements the above, contains the Commission's  
main conclusions from the ten-year period in which Regulation No.  
3056/73 has been in force and sets out the changes and improvements  
which, in the Commission's view, ought to be made if the programme is  
to remain fully effective. In addition, the Commission will shortly  
be sending the Council a draft Oil and Natural Gas Subprogramme for  
inclusion in the Third R & D Programme in the field of Non-Nuclear  
Energy. This proposal will concern activities in fundamental research  
- activities 'upstream' of and thus complementary to those covered by  
Regulation No. 3056/73.
4. The present communication is based in particular on the conclusions  
reached by a group of independent experts which the Commission asked  
to evaluate the technical results todate of the projects receiving  
support.
II.  THE PROGRAMME OF SUPPORT  
Objectives
5. Regulation No. 3056/73 is one of the instruments created by the  
Community with the aim of helping to achieve secure energy supplies in  
the long run. It is founded on the fact that the development of  
appropriate technologies for oil and gas exploration, production,  
storage and transportation meets that objective.
Although it is acknowledged that the responsibility for such techno­
logical development must lie primarily with the industry, the Council  
took the view, in adopting the Regulation, that the magnitude of the
1
2Council Regulation (EEC) $no$; 3056/73 on the support of Community
projects in the hydrocarbons sector (0J L 312, 13 November 1983).
Doc. COM(83) 571 Final.- 3 -

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risks and the investments plus the importance of making rapid progress  
in connection with these technologies and of pooling efforts at  
Community level warrant final support from the Community.
Financial resources
6.  The financial resources allocated by the Community to implementing this
programme of support amounted, between 1974 and 1983, to a total of  
307m. ECU in commitment appropriations, compared with a total invest­
ment of about 1 000m. ECU. The amounts entered in the budget each year  
have varied significantly from one year to the next: 25m. UA in 1974,
50m. EUA in 1977, 15m. EUA in 1980. For 1984 the allocation has been
fixed at 35m. ECU. However, given the rate of inflation in the
Community over the last ten years,  the value of the commitment  
appropriations allocated to the support programme has declined in real  
terms by more than half.
Achievements
7. Ten years of implementation - with 319 projects financed - have  
culminated in the following major technical achievements:
a) Geophysics
- the development of new systems for collecting, processing and  
interpreting geophysical data and the improvement of instrument  
and equipment performance. Progress of this kind makes it  
possible to get a better idea of the underground structure of the  
European continent, characterised as it is by great variety and  
tectonic complexity;
b) Drilling
- the development of drilling installations on board dynamically  
positioned vessels capable of drilling for oil, in hostile  
environments, at depths of as much as 1 800 m deep;
- the completion of the first horizontal drilling operation. The  
applications of this highly innovative technique will make it  
possible to speed up oil production and improve significantly the  
recovery ratio from fields ;
c) Production
- the development of a fully automated, remotely controlled oil  
production system on the sea bed designed to make possible the  
economic exploitation of marginal fields, notably those in the  
North Sea;
- the development of tension leg platforms (TLP): as there are no
structures fixed to the sea bed, such installations can be set up  
in very deep water. This technology may make it possible, for  
example, to exploit fields in the promising areas beyond the 62nd  
parallel in the North Sea;

- *— ÎD  —
- the development of the SWOPS production system for exploiting  
small accumulations and for early production operations of oil  
fields ;
- the implementation of pilot projects for the enhanced recovery of  
oil and gas. The positive results obtained (in some cases,  
recovery ratios of 60% have been recorded) should make it  
possible, in the medium to long term, to go over to production on  
an industrial scale;
d) Transportation
- the pipelaying trials in the Strait of Messina and the Sicilian  
Channel,  leading to the construction of the subsea gas between  
Africa and Europe,  intended to convey 12 thousand million m3 of  
Algerian natural gas to Italy. This structure has been laid at the  
maximum depth of 610 m beneath the sea - twice the previous record  
for a subsea pipeline;
- the application of electron-beam welding to the J-system of laying  
subsea pipelines. This highly innovative system will make it  
possible to lay lines at depths beyond the limits of current  
technology.
8. In the light of the objectives which the Regulation tries to fulfil,
the following conclusions can be drawn about its implementation:
— Generally speaking, the Community's security of oil supplies has been  
improved■  It would be pointless to try and give an overall estimate  
of the additional reserves obtained (although this is possible in the  
case of certain enhanced recovery projects), but it is certain that,  
as a whole, the techniques developed with financial assistance from  
the Community, have made it possible to discover new oil resources,  
notably offshore, develop production in known fields and reduce the  
time required to bring certain new deposits on stream. It has also  
been possible to gain access to resources outside the Community, e.g.  
by conveying natural gas from North Africa across the Mediterranean,  
under satisfactory economic conditions.
- Technological development and innovation have been stimulated.  
Although all the projects selected represented improvements of  
existing technology, a number of them constituted a real techno­
logical breakthrough, the attainment of which has made it possible to  
improve the position of the European oil-equipment industry on the  
world market. Horizontal drilling, and subsea welding and pipelaying  
techniques are examples of these successes. The Community instrument  
has thus been a crucial factor in launching projects with a high  
level of technical risk and has made it possible, in particular, to  
carry out major projects spread over several years (succession of  
technical stages), such as subsea deep water drilling and production  
systems. Utlimately, the development of these new technologies will  
allow oil and natural gas resources to be exploited which it would  
not otherwise have been possible to exploit.

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- Industrial initiatives have been encouraged. The availability of  
financial resources for supporting new technologies has enabled the  
recipient undertakings to carry out more research and development  
work than would normally have been possible. The results of an  
inquiry by the Commission among recipient firms show that one third  
of them would have delayed the execution of their projects by one to  
three years if Community support had not been forthcoming. The other  
two thirds would either have had to delay their projects for a period  
of more than three years or abandon them altogether.
- The pooling of effort at Community level has been facilitated. The  
implementation of cooperative projects started at national level but  
has developed into Community-wide effort. There has also been a  
tendency for Community undertakings to combine their efforts with  
companies in non-member countries, notably Norway.
Cooperation between oil-equipment manufacturers and companies using  
such equipment has gradually improved, although there is room for  
further progress in this field.
- The projects supported have so far had a high success rate. By the  
end of 1983, 140 of the 319 Community projects selected to date had  
been completed on schedule. In 42 cases, the projects have reached  
the stage of commerical exploitation and the subsidies received have  
been repaid in part or in full. In the other 91, the promoting  
companies are endeavouring to market the results. Overall, the  
average rate of repayment for projects granted support in 1975, 1966,  
1977 and 1978 is about 20%, the failure rate averaging no more than  
7%. The repayment rate for subsequent financial years cannot yet be  
given, as these projects are still being implemented.
9. The picture emerging from the ten years in which the programme of sup­
port for oil technologies has been running is thus an essentially  
positive one, as is borne out by the conclusions of the consultants  
called in by the Commission. It now has to be decided whether Community  
support should be continued and, if so, whether improvements are needed  
in order to make it more effective.
III. REASONS FOR CONTINUING WITH THE PROGRAMME
10. For ten years, the industrialised countries, and in particular those in  
the Community, have based their energy policy on two priorities:  
improving the security of supply ahnd reducing dependence on oil.
11. The measures taken to reduce oil consumption have had spectacular  
results, so that the Community now consumes 450 million tonnes of oil as  
against 550 million ten years ago. In the intervening period, the role
natural gas (partly indigenous and partly imported from non—member  
countries) in the supply of energy has increased considerably.
Nevertheless, within the framework of the objectives which the Community  
has set itself for 1990, oil and natural gas should still account for  
about 60% of the total consumption of primary energy. Beyond that date,  
it is certain that oil and gas will continue to play a very important  
role in the energy balance.

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The essential requirement of secure, long-term supplies will therefore  
remain just as relevant and it will be necessary in future, as in the  
last ten years, to encourage the development of both internal and  
external resources which will make it possible to meet that requirement.  
The rapid development of technologies which will make it possible to  
increase the volume of recoverable resources, produce them less  
expensively and more safely remains a particularly appropriate way of  
encouraging this development.
12. The objection could of course be raised that there is currently an  
abundant worldwide supply of oil and gas and that the rising trend in  
prices observed between 1978 and 1982 has been reversed, indicating a  
fall, or at least stability, in real terms over the next few years.
This currently favourable climate must not, however, distract the  
Community from exercising its long-term responsibilities, which are to  
promote as secure a supply as possible and to encourage the continuance  
of conditions which allow market forces to operate in the most  
satisfactory way. From this point of view, the continuation of support  
for the development of advanced petroleum technology is still fully  
warranted.
13. This technology is being developed or perfected, in particular by  
engineering, service and oil-equimment manufacturing firms, and not just  
by the oil companies. Under the programme, the former have received  
(either directly or indirectly) about 70% of the support granted by the  
Community during the ten-year period in question.
In the current energy situation, which is characterised by a slowing-  
down of exploration and development activity (such activity creates keen  
competition on the world market for equipment and services), aid of this  
kind (a) provides an incentive for further research and development and
(b) has a definite counter-cyclical effect by preventing the closure of  
existing production capacity and research centres.
IV. IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE TO THE PROGRAMME
14. The experience of the last ten years has shown that the Community's  
support programme is both sound and effective. The need now is to  
proceed further along the road that has been mapped out, while adapting  
this instrument to new requirements and situating it in the general  
context of the Community's energy strategy.
A. Adoption of a multiannual programme
15. The projects financed under Regulation No. 3056/73 are generally spread  
over a period of several years and involve a high degree of technical  
and financial risk. Hitherto, such projects have been financed under an  
annual programme, the appropriations to be allocated being decided each  
year by the budgetary authority. The fact that the annual allocations  
can vary by as much as 100% from one year to the next without the  
Community being committed to continue with the programme, has introduced  
an element of uncertainty which should be removed.

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16. To remedy this situation, and incorporate the programme more effectively  
into Community energy policy, the Commission believes that these support  
measures should be the subject of a multiannual commitment and should  
have an adequate budget. Thus, support for projects in the hydrocarbons  
sector could be incorporated in the multiannual programme of action and  
financing for energy research which the Commission has asked the Council  
to approve in principle"3.  The Council, in its report to to the European  
Council meeting in Athens (November 1983), did in fact welcome the idea  
of multiannual programming of Community measures in the energy sphere.
Moreover, such a solution should lead to the optimum use of the  
Community's financial resources, avoid duplication and ensure the  
continuity of the measure. This last factor will provide an element of  
stability for economic operators as they draw up their own programmes  
for developing new technologies.
17. It must be emphasised in this connection that Community support for  
technological projects in the hydrocarbons sector cannot continue unless  
sufficient financial resources are made available. The budget retained  
for a multi annual support programme should be such that it will be  
possible to allocate yearly amounts which will have a multiplying effect  
and at the same time offset the consequences of inflation. Unless an  
adequate budgetary allocation is adopted, the Community measure will  
lose all credibility.
B. Changes in the decision-making process
18. Unlike other Community instruments of support for technological 
projects, Regulation No. 3056/73 gives the Council, acting unanimously  
on a proposal from the Commission, the power to decide whether financial  
assistance should be granted.
19. However, the decision-making process of Regulation 3056/73 should be
modified in order to particularly take into account the requirements of  
Art. 205 of the Treaty. Until then, the support programme will continue  
to be carried out pursuant to Regulation No. 3056/73.
3Doc. COM(83)513 Final.

-s -
C. Determining the priority technological objectives
20. Several of the techniques developed with financial assistance from the
Community since 1973 have now reached maturity. Although the
possibility of extension should not be excluded in some cases, steps  
should now be taken to determine new technoplogical objectives to be  
pursued as a matter of priority in the years ahead.
21. Generally speaking, the trend of oil field development over the last few  
years clearly shows that efforts will have to be concentrated in future  
(a) on reducing the costs of developing and exploiting 'conventional'  
offshore and 'marginal' deep-water fields by using appropriate  
technology and (b) on developing wholly new technologies for exploiting  
resources at very great depths below the sea.
22. Accordingly, the priorities in each sphere of activity should be as  
follows :
(a) Geophysics
A considerable effort should be made as regards seismic sources and  
methods of collecting data. The use of modern geophysical tech­
niques, including accurate positioning, must be perfected, since  
they may produce major advances with regard to the delimitation of  
very deep geological strata. The processing and interpretation of  
geophysical data - which are benefiting from today's advances in  
computer technology - should also be improved.
Modern geophysics does not merely have to provide an image of the  
geological strata down to depths of a few thousand metres, but must  
help geologists to reconnoitre deep-lying underground structures  
down to several tens of thousands of metres. It must also provide a  
better picture of the lithology and the fluid content of the  
geological strata. The number one objective in using such
techniques is to reduce significantly the number of unproductive  
exploratory drillings.
(b) Production
The years ahead will see the need to develop marginal fields with  
reliable, inexpensive techniques and to produce oil and gas from  
major deposits situated at great depths below the surface of the  
water - in both cases in difficult environments. Efforts should  
therefore be focused on reducing production costs (both investment  
and operation) and improving rigid and flexible structures; this  
should be regarded as a priority research aim.
In the longer term, this will also involve production from fully  
automated installations on the sea bed, making possible the direct  
discharge towards the coast of the two-phase fluid not treated in  
situ.
The intermediate solution of developing fields from floating  
platforms linked to remotely controlled subsea production wellheads  
should also be studied in detail.

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As a field's reserves should be developed to the full, enhanced 
recovery techniques should be fully mastered. Efforts should be  
concentrated therefore on improving knowledge of the oil reservoir 
rocks and on recovery methods and vectors. If economic conditions 
allow, this approach would involve using effective methods of  
recovery from known reserves and thus helping to improve security of  
supply.
(c) Services
The development of systems for monitoring, maintaining and repairing  
subsea installations in conditions of total safety, whatever the  
depth of water.
(d) Storage
The development of systems for the underground storage of oil and  
gas onshore or offshore.
23. The objectives listed in the above paragraph will require a specific  
technological effort in certain areas, e.g.:
- a risk analysis and evaluation methodology for oil production,  
borrowing from the experience gained in other industries;
- research into and adaptation of new composite materials which can  
meet oil production specifications;
- improving knowledge of the behaviour of conventional materials (steel  
and concrete) under oil-production operating conditions and of the  
interaction between structures and the marine environment.
24. This order of priorities accords with the conclusions reached by the  
independent experts called in by the Commission. It is based on the  
state of the art and will have to be adapted with the passage of time.  
The Commission will take the views of the representatives of the  
Community oil and oil-related industries into account, which it will  
hear at the forthcoming symposium on new oil technologies in December  
1984. Ties with other Community programmes will also be clarified so as  
to avoid duplication of effort.
D. Improving the procedure for implementing the programme  
Call for projects
25. Regulation No. 3056/73 contains no provisions regarding its implement­
ation. It was the Commission which decided that a call for projects  
would be published every year inviting companies to apply for financial  
support.
Within the four areas provided for in the Regulation (exploration,  
production, transportation and storage), the Commission, on each  
occasion, has arranged the proposed projects in order of priority and  
has then submitted its proposals for support to the Council. The  
Commission's order of priority reflects its view of the development of

technology and long-term requirements.  The experience of the last ten  
years has shown that the Member States have shared the Commission's  
views.
26. The following improvements could be made to this procedure:
- Substance: it would be worth stating in the call for projects which
fields would receive a certain amount of priority.
To ensure that such a choice was consistent with the changing pattern  
of requirements, the Commission could rely on an opinion given in an  
advisory capacity by experts from the Member States, attached to the  
competent departments or working in the industry.
As befits multiannual programming, however, the annual ordering of  
priorities should not jar with the essential continuity of the  
programme.
- Publicity: experience has shown that calls for projects, although
published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, do not  
always reach an equally wide business audience in the different  
Member States. The Commission will see that calls for projects are  
published as widely as possible throughout the Community.
Optimum use of appropriations
27. In drawing up proposals for financial support to be submitted to the  
Council, the Commission has always regarded the optimum use of  
appropriations as one of the main criteria. To ensure such optimum use,  
the following steps have been taken, and should continue to be taken:
(a) projects have been financed in stages.  Rather than commit itself  
to an entire project, the Commission has preferred a system whereby  
one stage is financed at a time, further support depending on the  
results of the previous stage;
(b) adoption of the principle of "use value" to determine the amount of  
investment to be supported. Instead of considering the total value  
of an installation or piece of equipment, and possibly recovering  
the residual value thereof on conclusion of the project, this  
approach is based on the cost of utilisation during the project  
execution period only.
Dissemination of results
28. Under Annex III to the support contracts the Commission and the  
recipients are required to see that the results of the projects are  
disseminated as widely as possible.

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29. The Commission uses the following means of providing information:
(i)  Technical conferences
Since 1977 the Commission has organised a series of meetings 
between recipients and, where appropriate, the potential users of  
the results of the projects. Each technical conference is devoted  
to a specific subject. Their purpose is to exchange information on  
progress and problems concerning the projects, examine
opportunities for cooperation and take stock of oil technology  
developments.
Although the degree of cooperation has never reached the level  
hoped for, discussions on progress have proved very useful as they  
have enabled project promoters, potential users and competitors to  
get together.
This type of meeting should be held more often - at least six times  
a year, with a different topic on each occasion. A programme  
should be worked out which would allow each topic to be reviewed  
roughly every two years. Companies from outside the Community,
notably from Norway, OAPEC and the AGP countries, should be invited  
to attend these conferences so as to lend further substance to  
cooperation on energy matters between them and the Community.
(ii)  Publications
4An initial report was brought out in 1982 ,  but no regular work has  
been published so far on the results of the projects. Provision  
should therefore be made for a specialist publication - similar to  
the regular bulletin on demonstration projects - which would report  
on completed projects, the results obtained and the progress made  
in each specific area. The publication would be distributed as  
widely as possible.
(iii) Data bank
The Commission is currently setting up a data bank - SESAME - which  
will enable any interested party to obtain information regarding a  
project's objectives, promoter and progress.
(iv) Symposium
An international symposium on the initial results of Community  
projects was held by the Commission in 1979; a second symposium  
will be held in Luxembourg in late 1984.
International meetings of this kind enable promoters to impart the  
results of their projects to a wide audience of representatives  
from the oil and oil-related industries, international  
organisations and non-member countries. They also provide an
-  _
European Communities Oil and Gas Research and Development Projects,  
First Status Report (EUR 8043). Published by Graham & Trotman for the  
Commission of the European Communities.

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occasion for informing national bodies and public opinion about the  
use of the funds made available for improving the Community's  
security of supply. Finally, they make it possible to exchange  
ideas about the future direction of the programme.
Putting the results into concrete form
30. As indicated above (see point 7), the projects carried out so far have  
had very positive results in technical terms. Commercially, however,  
they have been less successful, probably owing to a lack of consultation  
between project promoters and users, both before and during the  
projects.
31. Meanwhile, the Commission is in the process of reviewing its policy
regarding the exploitation of results from Community R & D. In this
context, the Commission is examining, amongst other things, the question  
of reimbursement of Community loans.
32. Right from the beginning of the programme, the Commission has encouraged
companies in oil-related industries to involve the oil companies
themselves in development projects and ask for their aid and cooperation  
with regard to implementation.
However, the means at its disposal for this purpose are only limited.  
It must be careful not to restrict the oil-related sectors freedom of  
action vis-à-vis potential customers.
The Commission will try, in future, to give greater encouragement to  
cooperation between promoters and users, especially as regards:
- increased dissemination of information, by the means indicated above;
a review, when selecting projects, of opportunities for cooperation  
which might interest the promoters of projects with similar  
objectives.
33. Another question that arises is participation by companies in non-member  
countries in projects receiving support. Under the Regulation (Article  
3), only natural or legal persons who are nationals of a Member State  
may receive support.
Sometimes projects are implemented in association with companies in  
non-member countries (e.g. Norway). In such an instance, only the  
Community company may receive financial support, although the associate  
in the non-member country has access to the results of the project,  
subject to the clauses in the contract relating to the dissemination of  
results and to repayment in the event of commercial success.
In addition, the merits of opening the programme up more widely to  
companies in certain non-member countries should be considered. The  
development of new hydrocarbons technologies could become a concrete  
feature of energy cooperation with a great many countries. Where  
Norway, OAPEC, the ACP countries, or other oil-importing developing  
countries are concerned, the Community stands to benefit from their  
having access to the most advanced technology so as to be able to

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exploit their current and potential resources. As well as its impact on  
the expansion of the supply of oil and gas, cooperation with firms in  
these countries would ensure new markets for Community companies in the  
oil-related sector.
V. CONCLUSIONS
34. To sum up, the Commission takes the view that the uncertainties  
persisting in the medium to long term as regards the Community's  
security of oil and gas supplies fully justify the continuation of the  
programme of financial support for the development of new oil  
technologies.
35. Accordingly, the Commission believes that the Community instrument set  
up ten years ago should be adapted to the new priorities and strength­
ened in the light of requirements. To this end, it is considering  
taking action in the following months and in the light of discussions  
which the Council will have had on the present communication, in the  
following areas:
- At institutional level,  the elaboration of proposals with a view to  
obtain from the Council a multiannual financial commitment in respect  
of the continuation of the programme and changes in the decision­
making process;
- at technical level,  the selection of new priority areas as regards  
implementation of the programme, to be prepared in close cooperation  
with experts from the Member States and representatives ·  of the  
Community oil and oil-related industries;
- finally, as regards the application of Regulation No. 3056/73,  the  
gradual improvement of the arrangements for implementing the  
programme so as to increase its effectiveness.