WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3224/97 by Clive NEEDLE to the Commission. Re-commissioning of rigs
C 117/166 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 4. 98 (98/C 117/226) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3224/97 by Clive Needle (PSE) to the Commission (9 October 1997) Subject: Re-commissioning of rigs In light of the conference of oil companies and others held in Brussels on 29 September 1997 relating to decommissioning of rigs, a consortium based in Great Yarmouth in my constituency of Norfolk in the United Kingdom is pursuing the possibility of re-commissioning oil rigs with the help of a company specializing in new lifting systems, researchers from a local university and other local partners to look at both the economic and environmental impact of this project. Is the Commission aware of work being done in Great Yarmouth? If so, what plans does the Commission have to analyze the usefulness of the project and communicate its lessons? Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (6 November 1997) The question raised by the Honourable Member concerns a matter which is of considerable interest to the Commission. The Commission has recently received the results of a major study on the subject of decommissioning offshore oil and gas installations which concluded that it is technically feasible to remove all but a few of the existing steel installations. It is therefore particularly interesting to see how industry is constantly developing new and more efficient technologies in this field. The Commission is aware of the Great Yarmouth solutioní project and is keen to explore all opportunities for the reuse of these installations. The Commission is active within the Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) Convention, which is seeking to agree a policy on the whole subject of decommissioning and disposal of offshore installations, and is closely monitoring developments across Europe in the whole field which includes recommissioning or reuse of facilities. In this respect the Great Yarmouth project is important as it involves a new method of heavy lifting and the results are of interest in these ongoing discussions in OSPAR. (98/C 117/227) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3255/97 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (9 October 1997) Subject: Modification of second CSF for Greece According to Greek press reports the Ministry of National Economy is supporting a proposal that DR 700 billion from CSF appropriations allocated to Greece be redistributed among the structural funds and programmes in order that they do not remain unassigned, since it will not be possible to utilize them by the year 2000 for the objectives for which they were earmarked. As a result of this redeployment of funds the appropriations earmarked for the Ignatiaí road and the National Land Register, which are of the utmost importance for the development of Greece, will be halved. According to the same reports, the Ministry of National Economy maintains that áthe proposal does not mean abandoning programmes or cancelling projects but merely transferring appropriations to speed up work on major public projects co-funded by the Community without affecting the future of individual programmes or preparations for the Santer Packageí