REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Annual Report on the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations in the European Union for the Year 2020
Date: 2022-08-26
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: activity report, environmental protection, extraction of oil, hydrocarbon, marine pollution, maritime safety, offshore drilling, offshore oil structure, oil pollution, petroleum exploration

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 26.8.2022  COM(2022) 417 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Annual Report on the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations in the European Union for the Year 2020                  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 

Annual Report from the European Commission on the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas 
Operations for the Year 2020 

1 

 
 
 
 
Table of contents 

1. 

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 

2.  LEGAL BASIS ............................................................................................................................................ 4 

3.  METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION RECEIVED ........................................................................... 4 

4.  THE EU OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS SECTOR ....................................................................................... 5 

4.1 Installations and production ...................................................................................................................... 5 

4.2 Offshore inspections, investigations, enforcement actions and regulatory framework ............................. 8 

5. 

INCIDENTS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE ........................................................................................ 9 

6.  CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 11 

2 

 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Since 2016, the European Commission has published an annual report on the safety of EU offshore 
oil and gas operations. 

The  legal  basis  for  this  report  is  Directive  2013/30/EU1  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’). It aims to achieve a high level of safety in offshore oil and 
gas operations, for the benefit of: 

i.  workers; 
ii. 
iii. 
iv. 

the environment; 
offshore platforms and equipment; 
economic activities, such as fishing and tourism.  

The Directive, as implemented by Member States, helps to: 

i. 
ii. 
iii. 

prevent major accidents and incidents; 
reduce the number of incidents; 
ensure  effective  follow-up  of  accidents  and  incidents  to  reduce  the  severity  of  their 
consequences. 

As past reports do, this annual report: 

i. 
ii. 
iii. 

gives the number and type of installations in the EU; 
provides information on safety incidents in these installations; 
assesses the safety performance of offshore oil and gas operations.  

With every report, the analysis of trends is more meaningful. The reports also serve as a record of the 
safety performance in Member States’ offshore oil and gas activities. 

This  report  is  based  on  annual  reports  and  data  submitted  by  Member  States  as  required  by  the 
Offshore Safety Directive. 

There are 187 offshore oil and gas installations located in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean2, 165 in 
the Mediterranean Sea, 9 in the Black Sea and 2 in the Baltic Sea. In 2020, the competent Member 
State authorities inspected the safety of 141 offshore installations in their jurisdiction. The countries 
reported 2 major accidents: 1 in Croatia and 1 in Denmark.  

The number of incidents decreased from 34 in 2019 to 16 in 2020. This reflects major improvements 
in the safety of installations. 

1 OJ L 178, 28 June 2013, p. 66. 
2 After the departure of the UK from the EU, the number of installations in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean decreased 
by 176. 

3 

 
 
                                                           
2. 

LEGAL BASIS 

In  line  with  Article  25  of  the  Offshore  Safety  Directive,  the  Commission  must  publish  an  annual 
report on the safety and environmental impact of offshore oil and gas operations. This report is based 
on individual annual reports that Member States must submit to the Commission. Annex IX(3) to the 
Directive sets out the minimum information the annual reports must contain: 

(a) the number, age and location of installations; 
(b) the number and type of inspections and investigations carried out, in addition to any enforcement 
action or convictions; 
(c) incidents that have occurred; 
(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 and submit the required information is 1 June following 
the reporting period (e.g. 1 June 2021 for 2020). 

Member  States  must  submit  the  information  using  the  templates  provided  in  Commission 
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1112/2014 of 13 October 20143. The templates allow: 

i. 

operators  and  owners  of  offshore  oil  and  gas  installations  to  share  information  on  major 
hazard indicators; 

ii.  Member States to publish information on major hazard indicators.  

A guidance document4 provides specific information on the Implementing Regulation and explains 
how to use the reporting templates. 

3.  METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION RECEIVED  

Member States  must submit clearly defined information  on safety incidents  in  the offshore oil and 
gas  sector  using  the  templates.  The  data  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. 

For this annual report, the Commission has used information provided by Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, 
Denmark,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Ireland,  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Romania  and  Spain. 
Other  Member  States  were  not  active  in  the  offshore  oil  and  gas  sector  or  did  not  submit  relevant 
information. 

3 OJ L 302, 22 October 2014, p. 2. 
4 https://euoag.jrc.ec.europa.eu/files/attachments/2015_11_25_implementing_regulation_guidance_document_final.pdf 

4 

 
 
                                                           
All Member States with offshore oil and gas operations declared they had submitted all the required 
information on all installations.  

4. 

THE EU OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS SECTOR 

4.1 Installations and production 

Member States reported 363 installations in EU waters in 2020 (see Table 1): 

  Most offshore installations5 are in the North Sea and Atlantic. 
  Approximately 42% are in the Dutch part of the North Sea (known as the exclusive economic 

zone of the Netherlands). 
In the Mediterranean Sea, Italy is the most active (with 38% of all installations in EU waters) 
followed by Croatia. 
In the Black Sea, Romania has a well-established offshore oil and gas industry. Bulgaria has 
continued  offshore  hydrocarbon  exploration,  but  only  has  one  installation  and  so  produces 
very little oil and gas.  
In the Baltic Sea, only Poland has offshore installations.  

 

 

 

5 Mobile offshore drilling units are not part of the analysis in section 4.1. 

5 

 
 
                                                           
Table 1: Installations on 1 January 2020: type of installation by region and Member State 

Region 

Country 

Type of installation(*) 

FMI 

NUI 

FNP 

FPI 

Total 
(region/country) 

Baltic Sea 

Black Sea 

Mediterranean Sea 

North Sea and Atlantic 

1 

3 

6 

0 

6 

16 

2 

1 

12 

1 

59 

10 

2 

1 

46 

Poland 

Bulgaria 

Romania 

Croatia 

Greece 

Italy 

Spain 

Denmark 

Germany 

Ireland 

The 
Netherlands 

1 

1 

3 

1 

2 

147 

18 

1 

126 

2 

127 

19 

0 

1 

105 

Total (type of installation) 

84 

276 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

2 

4 

9 

1 

8 

165 

20 

2 

140 

3 

187 

30 

2 

2 

151 

363 

 (*) FMI: Fixed, manned installation; FNP: Fixed, non-production installation; FPI: Floating 
production installation; NUI: Normally un-attended installation. 

More  than  half  of  offshore  installations  came  into  operation  between  1980  and  2000;  in  2020,  no 
new  fixed  installations  came  into  operation.  Since  2010,  the  development  of  new  production 
installations has dropped noticeably in the North Sea and Atlantic. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Approximately  81%  of  the  EU’s  domestic  oil  and  gas  (18 795  kilotonnes  of  oil  equivalent)  is 
produced  in  the  North  Sea  and  Atlantic  (see  Table  2).  The  biggest  contributors  there  are  the 
Netherlands and Denmark. Italy and Croatia are the biggest producers in the Mediterranean Sea. In 
the Black Sea, only Romania’s output is significant. 

Table 2: Offshore oil and gas production in the EU in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe )in 2020 

Country 

ktoe 

% of EU total 

Region 

Baltic Sea 

Black Sea 

Mediterranean Sea 

North Sea and Atlantic 

Poland 

Bulgaria 

Romania 

Croatia 

Greece 

Italy 

Spain 

Denmark 

Germany 

Ireland 

249 

249 

1 179 

30 

1149 

2 790 

241 

97 

2422 

30 

157 233 

 4 917 

890 

90 

9 826 

19 941 

1.3% 

1.3% 

5.9% 

0.1% 

5.8% 

13.9% 

1.2% 

0.5% 

12.1% 

0.1% 

78.9% 

24.6% 

4.5% 

0.5% 

49.2% 

                  100 % 

The Netherlands 

Total 

As a result of the UK’s exit from the EU, the EU lost ca. 80% of its offshore oil and gas production. 
Production  increased  slightly  in  Poland,  Bulgaria  and  Germany  but  declined  in  all  other  Member 
States, particularly in Denmark. Compared to production in Member States in 2019, there was a 18 
% loss of production (ca. 4 317 kilotonnes of oil equivalent) in 2020.  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From overall production in the EU measured in kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe), 70 % was gas and 
only  30  %  oil.  With  3619  ktoe  Denmark  was  the  most  important  producer  of  oil,  followed  by 
Germany (867 ktoe), Netherlands (451 ktoe) and Italy (440 ktoe). 

4.2 Offshore inspections, investigations, enforcement actions and regulatory framework 

The competent authorities in the Member States regularly inspected the offshore installations in their 
jurisdiction  in  2020  (see  Table  3)  –  the  more  installations  a  country  had,  the  more  inspections  it 
usually carried out. 

Compared to 20196, the number of inspections, working days spent on installations  for inspections 
and  the  number  of  inspected  installations  declined.  In  particular,  inspectors  spent  far  less  time  on 
installations than in 2019.  

Table 3: Numbers of offshore inspections by region and Member State in 2020 

Region 

Country 

Inspections  Working days spent 

on installation (travel 
time not included) 

Number of 
installations 
inspected 

Baltic Sea 

Black Sea 

Mediterranean Sea 

North Sea and Atlantic 

Poland 

Bulgaria 

Romania 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Greece 

Italy 

Spain 

Denmark 

2 

2 

10 

0 

10 

181 

13 

0 

1 

7 

7 

60 

0 

60 

175 

13 

0 

5 

164 

156 

3 

62 

12 

1 

89 

53 

6 To compare 2020 to 2019, we do not include 2019 UK data. 

8 

4 

4 

7 

0 

7 

80 

6 

0 

2 

69 

3 

50 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Germany 

Ireland 

The Netherlands 

2 

2 

46 

255 

3 

12 

21 

331  

2 

2 

36 

141 

Total 

Article  18  of  the  Offshore  Safety  Directive  gives  rights  and  powers  to  the  competent  national 
authorities  for  operations  and  installations  in  their  jurisdiction.  These  powers  include  the  right  to 
prohibit  operations  and  to  request  measures  ensuring  both  risk  management  compliance  and  safe 
operations.  

In  2020,  Denmark  investigated  one  major  accident  and  Croatia  carried  out  one  investigation 
following safety and environmental concerns reported by the workforce. In 2019, Italy and Romania 
conducted one investigation each. 

In 2020, only Denmark took an enforcement action. The only enforcement action in 2019 (excluding 
the UK) was taken by the Netherlands.  

5. 

INCIDENTS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE  

Operators and owners of installations and national authorities must report an accident or situation of 
serious danger (referred to as an ‘event’). However, a single event can be categorised by one or more 
incidents. For example, two incident categories have to be notified for the same event if there was an 
(a) unintended release of gas that (b) required the evacuation of staff.  

Member States reported 15 events7 in 2020 compared to 30 in 2019 (excluding the UK): 

-  Denmark – 8 events (6 in 2019), including 1 major accident. 
-  Croatia – 3 events (0 in 2019), including 1 major accident.  
-  The  Netherlands  –  4  events  but  no  major  accidents  (18  events  in  2019,  including  1  major 

accident). 

Major  accidents  include  incidents  that  could  cause  fatalities  or  serious  injuries  (even  if  none 
occurred). 

Of  the  incidents  that  occurred  in  2020,  69%  belong  to  the  category  of  unintended  releases  of  gas 
and/or oil, 25% concerned safety and environmental critical elements failures, and 6% concerned the 
loss  of  structural  integrity.  On  a  positive  note,  no  vessel  collisions  or  helicopter  accidents  were 
reported, and none of the incidents led to the loss of life. 

7 The reporting obligation does not cover certain events (e.g. those not related to operations). 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                           
Table 4: Incidents by category (set out in Annex IX to the Offshore Safety Directive) in 2020 

Category 

Total 

Share of 
category 
total 

Share of total 
events 

(a)  Unintended releases – total 

11 

100% 

68.75% 

Fires caused by ignited oil/gas 

Explosions caused by ignited oil/gas 

Unignited gas  

Unignited oil  

Hazardous substance  

(b) 

Loss of wells – total 

Blowouts 

Blowout/diverter activation 

Well barrier failure 

(c)   Safety and environmental critical element failure 

(d) 

Loss of structural integrity – total 

Loss of structural integrity 

Loss of stability/buoyancy 

Loss of station keeping 

(e)   Vessel collisions 

(f)  Helicopter accidents 

(g) 

Fatal accidents(*) 

1 

0 

5 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

4 

1 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

(h)  Serious injuries of five or more people in the same accident  0 

(i) 

Evacuation of personnel 

(j) 

Environmental accidents(**) 

Total 

(*) Only if related to a major accident. 

0 

0 

16 

10 

9.09% 

6.25% 

0% 

0% 

45.45% 

31.25% 

45.45% 

31.25% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

0% 

25% 

6.25% 

6.25% 

0% 

0% 

100% 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(**) According to Member States, the major accidents reported were not considered to be environmental accidents. 

In the EU, the total number of incidents decreased from 34 in 2019 (excluding the UK) to 16 in 2020 
(see below). This is almost equivalent to 2016.  

Number of incidents at offshore oil and gas 
installations in the EU (excluding UK) from 2016 to 
2020

28

25

34

15

16

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

This decrease has largely been due to a drop in unintended releases of both oil and gas. Incidents in 
the  loss  of  well  control  and  releases  of  hazardous  substances  categories  dropped  to  zero  in  2020. 
However,  safety  and  environmental  critical  element  failures  increased  from  two  to  four  between 
2019 and 2020. As in 2019, two incidents were classified as major accidents because they could have 
caused fatalities or serious injuries. 

6.  CONCLUSIONS 

In 2020, there were 363 offshore oil and gas installations in the EU. Overall oil and gas production 
substantially decreased from 24 258 kilotonnes of oil equivalent in 2019 to 19 941 kilotonnes of oil 
equivalent in 2020. Denmark and the Netherlands produced 74% of the EU’s total offshore oil and 
gas.  

The  Commission  has  assessed  the  safety  of  the  EU’s  offshore  oil  and  gas  operations  based  on  the 
information provided by Member States, according to the rules of the Implementing Regulation on 
reporting.  The  accuracy  of  the  Commission’s  analysis  therefore  depends  on  the  accuracy  of  this 
information. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In 2020, national authorities kept up their efforts to ensure a high level of safety in offshore oil and 
gas  operations  by  inspecting  141  installations  (compared  to  170  in  2019).  Denmark  was  the  only 
country that reported an enforcement action. 

There were two major accidents in 2020, as in 2019. The total number of incidents (as categorised in 
Table 4) decreased from 34 in 2019 to 16 in 2020, mainly thanks to a reduction of incidents in the 
Netherlands  (from  18 to 4). As in  2019, no  fatalities  were  reported, but  24 injuries  and 10  serious 
injuries occurred.  

In  conclusion,  thanks  to  the  obligatory  inspections  and  the  remedial  action  taken,  in  line  with  the 
Offshore Safety Directive,, the work of Member State authorities has resulted in substantially safer 
offshore oil and gas operations, compared to 2019.  

To maintain this high level of safety, the Commission continues to work closely with the European 
Union  Offshore  Authorities  Group  (EUOAG).  This  includes  driving  home  the  importance  of 
applying  best  practices  in  all  Member  States,  and  assisting  national  authorities  represented  in  the 
group.  

12