British Energy Minister Welcomes Review of Oil and Gas Regulation

Britain's Energy Minister has welcomed a report on reviewing regulation for the gas and oil industries. 

Energy Minister, Ed Davey, said most of the report's recommendations had "been received and implemented in full." The report, sparked by the Deepwater Horizon accident, was delivered to government a year ago.

Chaired by Professor Geoffrey Maitland of Imperial College London, the report referred to the strength and rigour of the UK’s offshore oil and gas safety and environmental protection regime. 

But the review, set up by UK government to learn from the Macondo (Deepwater Horizon) incident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, also stressed the importance of continuous improvement in oil and gas operations and made a number of recommendations to further strengthen the UK’s regime.

In the Department of Energy and Climate Change statement, a list of key responses was given, which include:

• Industry has developed and published guidance to ensure that critical safety equipment remains in good repair.
• The pan-industry forum set up to share best practice and develop guidance and standards for well management and design will remain in place permanently.
• Guidelines for improved management systems to give assurance that safety and environmental plans are implemented robustly.
• DECC has published guidance on how petroleum licensees on the UKCS can demonstrate that they have the financial capability to respond to an incident, before consent is given to drill exploration & appraisal wells.
• Increased requirement for operators to carry out offshore oil and gas emergency response exercises involving the Secretary of State’s Representative, from every 5 years to every 3 years.

John Hayes, the junior Energy Minister, said: “It is vital that our oil and gas activities meet the highest possible standards of safety and environmental protection. I am confident that the Government and industry responses to the independent panel’s recommendations, alongside other ongoing work, will ensure that the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry builds upon its existing high standards.”