PART 3Infrastructure and Information

Decommissioning

I173Duty to act in accordance with strategy: decommissioning and alternatives

1

Part 1A of the Petroleum Act 1998 (maximising economic recovery of UK petroleum) is amended as follows.

2

In section 9A (the principal objective and the strategy), in subsection (1)(b), after sub-paragraph (iv) insert—

v

owners of relevant offshore installations.

3

In section 9C (carrying out of certain petroleum industry activities)—

a

omit subsection (3), and

b

after subsection (4) insert—

5

A person who is the owner of—

a

a relevant offshore installation, or

b

upstream petroleum infrastructure,

must act in accordance with the current strategy or strategies when planning and carrying out the activities mentioned in subsection (6).

6

Those activities are—

a

the person's activities as the owner of the installation or infrastructure (including the development, construction, deployment and use of the infrastructure or installation);

b

the abandonment or decommissioning of the installation or infrastructure.

7

For the purposes of subsection (5), planning the activities mentioned in subsection (6)(b) includes the preliminary stage of—

a

deciding whether or when to proceed with the proposed abandonment or decommissioning, and

b

considering alternative measures to abandonment or decommissioning such as re-use or preservation.

4

After section 9H insert—

9HARelevant offshore installations” and their owners

1

For the purposes of this Part an offshore installation is a relevant offshore installation if and in so far as it is used in relation to petroleum within subsection (2) (including such petroleum after it has been got).

2

Petroleum is within this subsection if it is petroleum which for the time being exists in its natural condition in strata beneath—

a

the territorial sea adjacent to Great Britain, or

b

the sea in any area designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964.

3

In this Part “owner”, in relation to a relevant offshore installation, means—

a

a person in whom the installation is vested, and

b

a lessee and any person occupying or controlling the installation.

5

In section 9I (other definitions), at the appropriate place insert—

“offshore installation” has the same meaning as in Part 4 (see section 44);

“owner”, in relation to a relevant offshore installation, has the meaning given in section 9HA;

“relevant offshore installation” has the meaning given in section 9HA;

“submarine pipeline” has the meaning given in section 45;