Thursday 11 September 2008

GUIDELINES PUBLISHED TO AID ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENCOURAGE NEW OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENTS

Oil & Gas UK has published guidance notes to improve compliance with the Infrastructure Code of Practice (ICoP) and encourage third party access to infrastructure in order to promote new oil and gas developments on the UK continental shelf (UKCS).

The ICoP was launched in 2004 to help open up access to infrastructure on the UKCS for new users, so that small adjacent fields could be made economically viable with the aim of maximising oil and gas recovery. The non-statutory code sets out the principles and procedures to guide those negotiating third-party access and stipulates that technical data and the key terms and conditions of any agreements made between parties should be published on the web.

Paul Dymond, Oil & Gas UK's operations director, commented: "A review of the code's effectiveness carried out in 2006/7 identified a number of areas that merited further work, which was undertaken by experienced industry practitioners and relevant BERR personnel.  The resulting comprehensive guidance notes have been published to provide best practice proposals for each stage of negotiations to access UKCS infrastructure."

Firstly, the new guidance recommends a structured set of requests to establish negotiations for infrastructure use and an initial kick-off meeting where, under the new industry standard confidentiality agreement, studies leading to the fulfillment of the users' statement of requirements can be detailed.

Secondly, the guidance advocates the use of the network of ICoP Champions who are appointed within licensees by senior management, to facilitate negotiations through intervention when relevant, to train others and promote the code within their company.

Thirdly, the guidance notes that the Automatic Referral Notice (ARN) process - where the Secretary of State is automatically notified if a deal between the infrastructure provider and a potential user is not concluded within six months, raising the possibility of him or her stepping into negotiations - will be closely monitored by BERR, using field teams to track the progress of deals and support the timely resolution of issues.

The guidance also provides assistance on how to address generic liability and indemnity issues, covering insurance arrangements, contractor considerations, the capping of liabilities and off-specification deliveries of oil and gas.

Oil & Gas UK is running a series of training sessions on ICoP and the new guidance notes. The next sessions are scheduled to take place in Aberdeen on 23^rd September and 27^th November, and in London on 21^st October and we also expect to run sessions in 2009.  Please contact your ICoP Champion if you want to attend.

ENDS

NOTE TO EDITORS

Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry.  Its members are companies licensed by the Government to explore for and produce oil and gas in UK waters and those who form any part of the industry's supply chain.

 

Sally Fraser

Oil & Gas UK Media Relations               

2nd Floor                                                          

232-242 Vauxhall Bridge Road   

London SW1V 1AU      

             

Tel:       020 7802 2404

Fax:      020 7802 2401

Email:   sfraser@oilandgasuk.co.uk

Pager :  07659 183 999

http://www.oilandgasuk.co.uk