Isla Stewart

This Practice Note provides an overview of the purpose and extent of LOGIC’s Industry Mutual Hold Harmless Scheme (the ‘IMHH’), designed to ensure that oil and gas industry contractors operating in the UK North Sea and Irish Sea benefit from a direct contractual allocation of liability among one another.

This Practice Note gives an overview of the decommissioning relief deed (DRD), the prescribed form contract entered into between a company that is required to undertake decommissioning activities in the UK (or on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)) and the UK government. It looks at what a DRD is, why it is required, who can apply for a DRD, payments made under a DRD and the procedure for making an application for a DRD.

This Practice Note provides an overview to the UK government policy on decommissioning in the UK, the process for permanently removing installations and infrastructure from the seabed or securing wells. Although the legislation that defines responsibility for decommissioning programmes and execution of such programmes lies within domestic legislation, the UK’s policy in respect of decommissioning programmes is heavily influenced by international law. The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic 1992 (OSPAR) plays a significant role in UK policy, in particular Decision 98/3 of that convention. The founding principle is that a clear sea-bed should be left though there are certain exceptions to this and derogations may be granted from time to time by the UK government.

This Practice Note provides an overview to the legislative background to oil and gas decommissioning on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS), the process for permanently removing installations and infrastructure from the seabed or securing wells. The primary legislation is contained in Part IV of the Petroleum Act 1998. However, legislation (and policy) is constrained by the international conventions to which the UK is a signatory. The founding principle is that a clear sea-bed should be left, though there are certain exceptions to this and derogations may be granted from time to time by the UK government.

This Practice Note gives an overview of the process of planning for decommissioning of oil and gas pipelines or installations on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) (which will vary depending on whether or not a derogation will be sought) and looks at the contents of a ‘typical’ decommissioning programme, however each decommissioning programme will be bespoke to the particular installation/pipeline.

This Practice Note gives an overview of the Master Deed process, the standardised transfer mechanism for oil and gas assets on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).