The Oil and Gas Authority (Fees) Regulations 2016

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision for the Oil and Gas Authority (“the OGA”) to charge fees. They consolidate provision for fees that were previously charged by the Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“DBEIS”) under the following regulations:

• the Offshore Gas Storage and Unloading (Licensing) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/2813) (“the 2009 Regulations”);

• the Storage of Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc.) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010//2221) (“the 2010 Regulations”);

• the Gas and Petroleum (Consents) Charges Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/1138) (“the 2013 Regulations”); and

• the Petroleum Licensing (Applications) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/766) (“the 2015 Regulations”).

Regulation 3 prescribes the applications for which the OGA may charge a fee. These are applications made by the holder of a petroleum licence, the holder of an authorisation relating to pipelines and the holder of a gas storage licence or carbon dioxide appraisal and storage licence.

Regulation 4 sets out the formula for estimating fees payable for certain consents and pipeline works authorisations. This is based on a daily rate of £500 which is multiplied by the number of days and number of officers which the OGA estimates will be required to determine the application. Before making an application under regulation 4, the licensee or person must request that the OGA determines the fee, as provided for by regulation 5. The OGA must notify the licensee or person who requests the determination of a fee of the amount payable. This provision was previously set out in regulation 3 of the 2013 Regulations.

Regulation 6 sets out the fees payable for other consents, for example a consent to drill a well. There is a fixed fee for each type of consent. This provision was previously set out in regulation 5 of the 2013 Regulations.

Regulation 7 sets out the fees payable on making an application for relevant petroleum licences, for example a landward petroleum exploration licence. There is a fixed fee for an application for each type of petroleum licence. This provision was previously set out in regulation 7 of the 2015 Regulations.

Regulation 8 sets out the fee payable on making an application for a gas storage licence. This provision was previously set out in regulation 2 of the 2009 Regulations.

Regulation 9 sets out the fee payable on making an application for a carbon dioxide appraisal and storage licence. This provision was previously set out in regulation 3 of the 2010 Regulations.

Regulation 10 provides that a fee payable under these Regulations must be paid to the OGA and is not paid unless the OGA holds the fee in cleared funds.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. However, an impact assessment was prepared for the Energy Bill 2015-16, to which this instrument relates. A copy of that impact assessment is available from DBEIS, 3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW and is available at www.parliament.uk.

The provisions consolidated by this instrument were the subject of previous impact assessments which are available from DBEIS at the above address.

These Regulations have no impact on the private sector since there has been no change to the range of applications for which fees are charged and the way that those fees are determined. The amount of each fee has not increased. They have no impact on the voluntary sector and no significant impact on the public sector.