October 1998 Vol. 219 No. 10  Editorial

Thomas R. Wright, Jr.,  Editorial Director

Kyoto North

Some of us attending the Offshore Northern Seas Conference in Stavanger, Norway, this past August wondered whether we had gotten off the airplane at the wrong stop. Instead of being the typical oil show with accompanying technical presentations, this year's ONS seemed more like an oil field version of last year's meeting in Kyoto, Japan, where representatives of most of the world's nations met to hash out ways to stem the still unproved phenomenon of global warming. But it was an oil show (there were subsea trees, BOPs, drill bits, etc.), despite the fact that about two days of the conference program were dedicated to environmental and human rights issues.

Things got off to a rousing start with a handful of youngsters protesting development in the Barents Sea. Dressed in rain slickers and carrying a fish net complete with a few dead fish, the members of Nature and Youth set up shop at the entrance to the conference center, just minutes before King Harald V was due to arrive for the official opening. After some moderate net-tugging between security personnel and protesters, the teens were moved aside and made to wait for a police paddy wagon, which ultimately hauled them away. All this seemed to be overkill, since the group appeared to present no real threat. And considering Norway's liberal bent, one would have expected the authorities to let the protesters hang around, as long as they stayed out of the way.

The general program was kicked off by Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who set the tone for what was to come. He mentioned the concern about the ability of our eco-system to sustain a growing population and material consumption and said, "This is an issue that cannot be ignored." He also doesn't "believe that we can adequately project past sustainability on to the future." (The last quote alluded to the earth's supposed inability to absorb CO₂ emissions resulting from the use of fossil fuels.)

The above perspective was echoed by subsequent speakers, with most (including oil company representatives) actively promoting the global warming concept. Only W. W. Allen, Chairman and CEO of Phillips Petroleum, came close to expressing a dissenting view. However, even Allen said, "No one is certain what impact carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases may have on the environment or on climate change. However, there is some evidence that concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere are increasing, and that average temperature has risen slightly over the past century. But scientists remain unsure and divided over whether the two are connected. After all, since the beginning of time, there have been natural fluctuations in the earth's climate. The ice age is a good example." Mr. Allen went on to say that "it is only prudent that we address these concerns" that the public has about the "negative impact fossil fuels may have on the environment."

The final session of ONS was to be opened with a presentation by U.S. Vice President Al Gore, however, he couldn't make it and sent video-taped comments instead. Based upon past performance, many were expecting an environmental diatribe from Gore. But surprisingly, the Veep was very cagey, not mentioning global warming at all and saying he was convinced that technology could take care of all of our "problems."

But things went downhill from there, though, as Gore was followed by Svend Auken, Denmark's Minister of Environment and Energy. Saying that man is "engaging in the largest and most dangerous experiment" failing to address climate destabilization (his term for global warming), Auken said Kyoto will be ineffective because of its emissions trading provisions. He went on to extol the benefits of wind power and cited Denmark's "wonderful" success with offshore wind farms. Then, lapsing into his socialist democratic thinking, Auken acknowledged that wind power isn't competitive with petroleum and that "we must get the (oil) price up" by adding "a little taxes."

Then (as if we hadn't suffered enough), we were gifted with a presentation by Lester R. Brown of the Worldwatch Institute based in Washington, D. C. Lester, with his Albert Einstein hairdo, bright yellow bow tie and business suite, tastefully accented with running shoes, had a sobering outlook for most of us who live in developed societies. His vision of the future is a bicycle/rail transportation system for every city. And like Gore has been doing of late, he blamed every current weather extreme on global warming, including the flooding in China and Scandinavia's recent colder-than-normal summer.

Finally, as if the formal program wasn't slanted enough toward the environmental extreme, ONS management granted Greenpeace a press conference. Several apparently intelligent and articulate Generation X'ers presented their case against fossil fuels of all types, and then proceeded to castigate the U.S. and the American Petroleum Institute.

The Greenpeacers didn't even have much nice to say about Shell and BP, both of which have been trying to portray a greener side, particularly BP. Despite investing millions of dollars in solar cell technology and production, they are still considered "hypocrites" (Greenpeace's language) since solar's share of the companies' overall budgets is so small. Incidentally, Mr. Auken likened these solar investments to a PR campaign.

Later, while checking the press room for printed versions of presentations, we found several Greenpeacers hanging around, making breakfast of the rolls and coffee provided for the press. And as he prepared to leave, one of the hippier-looking types proceeded to gather up two arm loads of boxed sandwiches (also for the press), presumably for the rest of the crew that was squatting outside the front door.

We told you all of that, to tell you this: While we knew of the greener view held by most Scandinavians, we were caught off guard by the completely one-sided ONS program content and its near absence of technical presentations. The fact that there was no opposing view presented (or even allowed?) does not speak well of a professional gathering such as ONS. Surely, there must be somebody within the oil companies that operate in Norway who has not bought the global warming theory and who is not afraid to speak up.

Copyright © 1999 World Oil
Copyright © 1999 Gulf Publishing Company