Involving stakeholders and planning for sustainability
Early and systematic planning for a sustainable long-term presence - including an exhaustive social risk analysis and stakeholder involvement process - is an essential part of obtaining a licence to operate a project.
In parallel with the fieldwork by geologists and drilling experts in connection with Khorram-Abad, a thorough environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and environmental baseline study (EBS) was conducted prior to project start with the help of external consultants.
The ESIA and EBS covered all the necessary aspects of pre-planning, risk identification and legislative understanding, while providing clear recommendations for risk mitigation, stakeholder involvement and preparation for a long-term presence in the area.
The process also benefited from dedicated integrity and social responsibility (ISR) staff being part of the project team. They also took part during the fieldwork to gain a better understanding of needs and conditions on the ground, and of the broader integrity and social, political and security risks to the project.
A tent camp was established close to a remote village for security and logistics support for the duration of the fieldwork. The location of the camp provided the project with valuable operational experience in remote areas and, more importantly, helped the team to gain first-hand experience of how to co-exist with the local population, respecting their terrain, territory and interests, as well as providing some much needed employment opportunities in the area (see Picture 4 in the Appendix, showing the status of the permanent base camp and its proximity to the nearest village).
One individual from each family in the area was hired to fill various posts at the camp. These jobs included general assistants, bakers, cleaners, helipad assistants, kitchen workers, security staff, mountain guides etc. This area is relatively undeveloped and impoverished, which meant that the employment opportunities offered were the first regular medium-length employment many of these individuals had held in several years.
The local employees were offered company transport to and from their villages, which were sometimes as far as 40 kilometres away. In addition to the more formal interaction with and through the authorities, this allowed more communication between StatoilHydro and the local villages as well as improving our understanding of conditions in the neighbouring areas.
The work also included scouting of the area by archaeologists and surveyors in order to ensure that historic and cultural heritage sites - which are found in abundance in all areas of Iran - were protected and, if necessary, that the plans for seismic lines and other project activities were re-drawn.
How the assessment and stakeholder involvement was conducted, was therefore as important to the project as the insights generated by the study. It helped set a precedent for how StatoilHydro operates, both during the assessment and exploration phase and the production phase.
