UK Government Formally Launches Oil and Gas Authority

The UK oil and gas industry welcomed the new Energy Bill introduced into the House of Lords on Thursday. The Bill will hinge on two pillars. Firstly, it commits to support development of North Sea oil and gas, while increasing local people’s voice on new onshore wind farm applications. 

At the same time, the Bill formally establish the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) as an independent regulator. 

‘The Bill will … transfer the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change’s existing regulatory powers on oil and gas to the OGA. The Secretary of State’s regulatory functions in relation to the environment would not be transferred’ reads a note released by the Government on Friday, adding that the bill also gives the OGA additional powers including access to company meetings, and dispute resolution.  

The industry welcomed the latest political measure. 

“The commissioning of the Wood Review and implementation of its recommendations, along with the tax changes announced in this year’s Budgets, lay strong foundations for the regeneration of the UK North Sea… The focus of the industry now is to continue that work while maintaining comprehensive engagement with the OGA and HM Treasury” Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, Deirdre Michie, commented in a separate note.