PREMIER OIL'S COMMITMENT TO MAKING

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Petroleum Economist 
December 21, 1999 

SPONSORED STATEMENT; PREMIER OIL'S COMMITMENT TO MAKING A
DIFFERENCE. 

BYLINE: Dr Richard Jones; Manager Of Global Social Responsibilities; Premier 

Premier Oil is an international exploration and production company, 
based in the UK, with oil and gas operations in over 10 different 
countries, on five different continents. Founded in 1934, our principle
areas of operation today are in the UK, Pakistan, Indonesia and 
Myanmar where we are actively involved in exploration, development 
and the production of oil and gas reserves. We have additional
exploration and development interests in Australia and Albania. 

The nature of oil and gas exploration means that we often operate 
in countries that have political systems criticised by the international 
community. Judgements are, therefore, constantly being made about doing
business in these countries. We respect the political and human rights 
concerns of certain governments and NGOs and their support of sanctions 
in relation to these issues. However, although we are often pressured to 
pull out of these areas, we strongly believe that dialogue and engagement, 
as well as sustainable development, are key to effecting changes, both now 
and in the future. 

Our overriding aim is to create a policy that will benefit a great number of 
people at the grassroots level and lead to productive investment that will 
reach those on the lower rungs of the social ladder. Our commitment to this 
aim has lead Premier to develop its Corporate Responsibility Principles. These
principles formalised our approach. They are a "guide" to good business, 
a benchmark against which our performance may be judged in the future, 
and a testament to our total commitment to making a difference in the 
communities where we operate. 

In brief, our 12 principle are: 

Corporate Priority - We recognise social responsibility and human rights 
as a corporate responsibility and as a key factor in determining sustainable 
development. We aim to establish policies that enable us to conduct our work
in a socially responsible manner and to make a positive contribution to the
communities where we operate. 

Integrated management - We strive to integrate our policies, programmes 
and practices in each Business Unit as an integral factor in decision-making 
relating to all functions. 

Employee Education - We endeavour to educate, train and motivate all 
employees in all aspects of Premier's social responsibilities and related 
human rights issues, empowering them to implement the policies of the
Company. 

Prior Assessment - We assess the social, economic, health, human rights 
and environmental impacts of any new activity or project, both prior to its 
commencement and before decommissioning a facility or leaving a site. 

Facilities and Operations - We take into account the findings of the social, 
economic, health, human rights and environmental impacts assessments in 
the development, design, operation and monitoring of all activities. 

Emergency Preparedness - We provide relevant training and develop and 
maintain emergency preparedness plans, in conjunction with the appropriate 
emergency services and the local communities, in areas where significant 
hazards exist. 

Research - We conduct and support research on the social impacts of raw 
materials, products, processes and wastes associated with our operations, 
and on the means of minimising adverse effects. 

Precautionary Principle - We are committed to use services and products, 
and to conduct our activities in a manner consistent with the latest research 
to prevent negative social impact. 

Contractors and Suppliers - We promote our Corporate Social 
Responsibility Principles with our contractors and suppliers: to 
encourage and, where appropriate,  require improvements in 
their practices.

Transfer of Best Practice - We contribute to the development 
and transfer of  socially responsible business practices 
throughout the industry and the public  sector, wherever possible. 

Compliance and Reporting - We evaluate and verify our performance 
continuously  and undertake regular social audits and assessments of 
compliance with our principles  throughout the Company and 
communicate our findings to the Board, employees,  shareholders and 
stakeholders. 

Process of Improvement - We are committed to continuous 
improvement of our  Corporate policies, programmes and social 
performance. 

It is these good business principles that have been applied to 
tailor-make the  programme we have implemented in Myanmar. 

Since the early 1990s, Premier Oil has been working in Myanmar, 
formerly  Burma, towards developing the Yetagun gasfields. In 1997, 
we began working  with Save the Children USA on a socio-economic 
programme designed to  benefit not only the people living along the 
pipeline in the Kanbauk area, but  \the maximum number of people possible.  

Before we began our operation, we approached Save the Children USA and 
explained the scope and impact of the programme we wanted to implement. 
Save the Children USA felt there was a great synergy between its objectives 
and Premier Oil's. Work on the programme in Kanbauk, as well as additional 
projects in Yangon and the Inlay Lake area was begun, enabling the programme 
to achieve geographical, ethnic and religious diversity. 

The programme has had three key focuses: Education, income generation and 
ecological projects. 

While income generation and ecological projects are an essential part of the 
Premier Oil strategy, education is the element of the programme which could 
provide the greatest return on investment as the people of Myanmar are 
traditionally highly literate and value education highly. When selecting the 
education projects to support, we used two criteria: 

- Those which would benefit the most vulnerable members of society; and 

- Those which would have the greatest long-term impact on the lives of 
the beneficiaries. 

Early Childhood Care and Development (EDDC) was chosen as the major 
education focus because of its ability to influence the physical, social and 
intellectual development of children for their entire lives.
Well conceived programmes help meet the diverse development needs 
of young children during the crucial early years and enhance their readiness 
or school and life-long learning. 

The EDDC programme, which substitutes creativity, spontaneity and 
fun in learning for traditional rote memorisation and narrowly focused 
preparation for Grade One, is very popular with both the children
and their parents. Teachers for the EDDC programme receive training 
before beginning their work and then in-service training to upgrade their
skills. 

The classes, held in Premier Oil financed Resource Learning Centres and 
the Eco-tourism centre in Inlay Lake, represent an important innovation to 
Myanmar education. By November 2000, EDDC will reach 9,000 three to 
six year-olds in 17 villages in the pipeline area. 

Another element in the education programme is the Education Enhancement 
Programme (EEP), which provides poor village children with free, quality 
after-school tutorials, in small groups. This programme is necessary because 
classes in rural primary school are extremely crowded, with 60 to 80 children
competing for their teacher's attention in the classroom. The EEP programme 
gives children the individual attention and support they need to truly benefit 
from education. 

EEP teachers receive pedagogical training as well as Study Guide materials at 
the start of the school year and their training continues with periodic
in-service 
training. It is expected that by November 2000, more than 2,000 children in
the 
Kanbauk area will be beneficiaries of this programme. 

The Out of School programme provides basic literacy and numeracy 
skills for children too poor to attend school at all and it is an important 
component in the overall education strategy. The impact is
life-changing for the 100 children the programme currently reaches. 

In addition to the schools-focused elements of the programme, there is 
also a Computer Programme in the capital, Yangon. The programme has 
26 multi-media computers and offers advanced literacy, IT skills and English 
through computer courses. Recent evaluations have shown that 51% of 
graduates from the course have secured employment as a direct result of it, 
filling a huge gap in the labour market as
more companies discover the need for these skills. 

Together with our ecological and income generation programmes, 
the education initiatives organised by Premier Oil and Save the 
Children USA are bettering the lives of the people of Myanmar. 
It is not unreasonable to expect that by 2005 the programme will 
reach one million beneficiaries. 

We recognise that our principles and the benchmarks we are setting 
are ambitious and that we will be scrutinised, not only in Myanmar, 
but in our other operations around the globe. But whatever lies
ahead, our commitment to socially responsible business is 
unequivocal and is endorsed by the Board  and supported throughout 
the company. 

It is our sincere hope that through our sustained implementation of these 
principles, others will come to recognise the mutual benefits that such 
co-operation and best practice brings and implement their own 
programmes of improvement. 

CONTACT: 

Richard Jones, Premier Oil, 23 Lower Belgrave Street, London SW1W 0NR; 
Tel: 0171 730 1111; Fax: 0171 730 9204; Website: www.premier-oil.com. 

Internet ProLink PC User