Karoon is committed to delivering safe and reliable operations that respect our local environments by minimising impact, protecting biodiversity and seeking continuous improvement in operations. This is achieved through careful monitoring, aiming to achieve full compliance with all environmental regulations and licence requirements, and through implementation of our specifically designed environmental plans.
This is in addition to the work Karoon is undertaking to address the climate change impacts of our operations by making our Baúna operations carbon neutral on Scope 1 and 2 emissions and targeting Net Zero 2035 (Scope 1 and 2).
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental monitoring is carried out in four main areas:
- Water and Plankton Monitoring – through analysis of physical-chemical and biological data collected from water and plankton samples taken at various points around the FPSO.
- Sediment and Benthic Monitoring – through analysis of physical-chemical and biological data collected from marine sediment samples.
- Produced Water Monitoring – on a daily basis of oil and grease content in discharged water and an additional twice yearly special sample collection.
- Spill Monitoring – through monitoring and analysis of metocean data.
Karoon has consistently returned results within allowable regulatory parameters, generally significantly outperforming the environmental requirements of our licence. Details of Karoon’s environmental performance statistics can be found in our annual Sustainability Report.
Water Management
With water scarcity affecting more than 40% of the world’s population, Karoon recognises that sustainable water management is an important contributor to climate resilience. Fresh water is used in Karoon offices and shore bases through the public water supply. The only fresh water used in offshore operations is that required for consumption by employees and service providers and is transported from shore. Freshwater is only used for operational purposes on supply vessels, which is obtained from the shorebase water supply.
Waste Management Plan
The Baúna waste management plan, also called the Pollution Control Plan, ensures waste is minimised wherever possible and that any residual waste is properly treated and disposed of through:
- Minimising the generation of waste, wastewater and emissions in production activities.
- Recycling as much of the waste returned onshore as possible.
- Ensuring the final disposal of residual waste is in accordance with current standards and regulations.
- Seeking ongoing improvements to minimise pollution from air emissions, solid waste and wastewater discharge at sea.
Environmental Protection
In addition to our regulatory licence projects, Karoon has sought opportunities to undertake projects aimed at protecting the local environment. One such project is the Sun Coral Project, in which Karoon is providing funding for research of sun coral and how local environments can be protected from sun coral invasion.
Environmental Contributions
As an oil producer in Brazil, Karoon provides significant environmental contributions (environmental compensation payments) to protect state and federal parks in Brazil. The payments for Baúna total more than US$1.8 million and contribute to the upkeep and protection of:
- Arvoredo Marine Biological Reserve (Federal)
- National Park Superagui (Federal)
- Taim Ecological Station (Federal)
- Lagoa do Peixe National Park (Federal)
- Ecological Park Serra do Tabuleiro (Santa Catarina State)