In the oil and gas industry the effects of projects on the environment (social, ecological) are in many ways critical to their success and overall contribution to sustainable development. Although it is accepted that a proper Impact Assessment may increase the success rate of implementing a project, it appears sometimes difficult to integrate/align the Assessmentprocess with the project development and associated decision-making.Project development is a staged process with an increasing level of detailed information and a decreasing freedom to make changes. The regulatory requirements for IA-reports often prohibit early Assessment, as not enough information is available at a scouting or project initiation phase; performing theAssessment later will leave little or no opportunities for optimising the project.