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PREMIER OIL'S COMMITMENT TO MAKING (r)



Incidently, the ERIKA TOTAL OIL SPILL OFF THE NORTHWEST COAST OF FRANCE
IS ABOUT TO HIT THE ISLE YEU. THE RESIDENTS ON THE ISLAND CANNOT BOYCOTT
TOTAL.IF THEY DO THEY DONT GET ANY PETEROLEUM SUPPLIES FOR BOATS OR
CARS. 	THE ONLY STATION IS TOTAL. AND THE STATION OWNER SAYS EVEN IF
THERE WERE ANOTHER STATION IT WOULD HAVE TO BE TOTAL. THEY HAVE NO
CHOICE, SAID THE STATION OWNER. SAME THING GOES FOR THE FRENCH. LIKE IN
MOST CASES PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY DESERVE OR ASK FOR MORE OR LESS...

ds

Thanks for the propaganda for dictators who love democracy and business
partners who love dictators. Codes of Conduct: Unocal did it first,
Total followed it to the letter, and now Premier catches up in line,
after having been denounced by Amnesty International as "not giving a
damn about their public image", and banning journlalists from General
Assembly shareholder meetings.  They finally got the message that you to
win public approval, you should first manipulate the media, as though
"the medium is the message" were the only truth. 

WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT SINCE 1996 

> 
> 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.
>