OGA to maintain flexibility on UK offshore commitments

Offshore staff

LONDON – Britain’s Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) has completed its review of its more relaxed approach to UK offshore license commitments.

Due to the sudden emergence of COVID-19 early last year, the Authority announced on March 24 that it would ease the pressures on the industry by taking a pragmatic approach to compliance where possible.  

This included an offer to be flexible over amendments requested to license timelines. 

As a result, the OGA engaged with numerous operators and licensees on various license requests, at the same time de-prioritizing stewardship reviews, which were held only in relation to regulatory or other significant matters.   

The UK oil and gas industry responded well to the pandemic and oil/gas price reductions at the time, the Authority added, leading to the review.

To ensure time-critical, activity is maintained across the UK continental Shelf and to safeguard Britain’s energy supply and associated jobs, the OGA plans to adopt a “blended” approach to license management, incorporating what was learned during 2020 with the pre-COVID-19 OGA business-as-usual approach. 

If warranted, flexibility may still be feasible in the cases of license timelines affected by the ongoing crisis as the UK has only recently entered a new lockdown period. 

However, it has reminded operators/licensees to submit requests as early as possible to amend license timelines.

01/13/2021