Oil & Gas: decommissioning of offshore installations & pipelines - updated guidance

Published 23 January 2013

Last updated 4 September 2025 — See all updates

Overview

The decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) is controlled through the Petroleum Act 1998.

The responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of the Petroleum Act 1998 are complied with rests with the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) which sits within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Owners of oil and gas installations and pipelines are required to decommission their offshore infrastructure at the end of a field's economic life and the 1998 Act requires owners to set out the measures to decommission disused installations and/or pipelines in a decommissioning programme.

A decommissioning programme must identify all the items of equipment, infrastructure and materials that have been installed or drilled and describe the decommissioning solution for each.

OPRED aims to be transparent in its consideration of decommissioning programmes. As a result members of the public, other organisations, non-governmental organisations and other government departments or agencies are invited to comment on the proposals set out in a programme.

Details of the current programmes under consideration are noted in the table below.

OPRED provides guidance on the regulatory requirements for decommissioning. Final guidance on the Environmental Considerations for Decommissioning (Section 12) has now been incorporated into the guidance notes Offshore Oil and Gas Decommissioning Guidance Notes November 2018 (PDF, 1.27 MB, 138 pages). Please see Updates to Offshore Oil and Gas Decommissioning Guidance

Financial Assurance Guidance for the Decommissioning of Offshore Oil and Gas Installations and Pipelines. Financial Assurance Guidance (PDF, 278 KB, 17 pages)

The guidance outlines how the government assesses the financial capability of persons with a relevant interest in or considering taking an interest in an offshore oil or gas field. For the purposes of satisfying the Secretary of State that that person will be capable of carrying out a decommissioning programme in relation to that interest.

It explains our financial assurance policy and existing processes setting out the steps taken to assess the financial health of offshore oil and gas companies with an interest or potential interest in a field, outlining how and when we may use the statutory powers set out in the Petroleum Act 1998.

If you have any comments or questions relevant to the guidance, please email us at odu@energysecurity.gov.uk.

Proposed changes to charging a fee in respect of decommissioning offshore (oil and gas) installations and pipelines under the Petroleum Act 1998 as amended by the Energy Act 2008

The aim of this consultation was to formally seek views from stakeholders such as offshore oil and gas operators, companies with an interest in decommissioning offshore oil and gas installations and pipelines, and other interested parties, on the proposal to update the charging regime for activity related to the regulatory functions for the decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations. Fees consultation document - May 2021 (PDF, 224 KB, 19 pages) Offshore oil and gas cost recovery consultation impact assessment(PDF, 247 KB, 11 pages) Response to consultation document - April 2022(PDF, 189 KB, 12 pages)

If you have any questions regarding the proposed changes please direct these to odu@energysecurity.gov.uk.

Draft decommissioning programmes under consideration

Approved decommissioning programmes

Notification of disused pipelines

During the course of a field's life, pipelines/sections of pipelines may be taken out of use, e.g. due to corrosion, problems with reservoir pressure, damage to the pipeline, etc. When this happens, under the Petroleum Act 1998 the Secretary of State has the option of immediately calling for a full decommissioning programme. This is not always considered an appropriate option however, and so it has been agreed consideration will be given to handling suitable pipelines, under an informal decommissioning regime, thereby deferring a formal programme until the end of the field's life.

If a formal decommissioning programme is not immediately deemed suitable, details of the out of use pipeline(s) will be circulated to other government departments for comment. Following this, OPRED will decide one of the following:

• we are content with the proposals for monitoring and maintaining the out-of-use pipeline
• we request additional information or further remedial action
• we request a formal decommissioning programme

The Interim Pipeline Regime is intended to ensure out of use lines do not pose a risk to other users of the sea or the environment and that they are covered by an appropriate surveying and maintenance regime from the point when they are taken out of use until approval of the formal decommissioning programme, which is usually at the end of field life. It should be noted that any interim solution should not prejudice the final decommissioning options for that line, including complete removal. The department expects operators to submit details of out of use pipelines/sections of a pipeline as soon as they are taken out of use.

Operators are reminded that any works that are proposed on any pipelines under the Pipeline Works Authorisation regime, as per their Terms and Conditions of the PWA, must have a legal consent in place before works can commence which includes but is not exclusive to any proposed decommissioning works. Consents are issued by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and operators are requested to email consents@nstauthority.co.uk on any queries that they may have relating to legal consents. Further guidance can also be found on the NSTA website.

Once the necessary legal consent has been issued by NSTA, Consents & Authorisations Section, Operators are to email a completed IPR1 Form (MS Word Document, 63.7 KB) to odu@energysecurity.gov.uk.

If you are an operator, aware of any out of use pipelines that have not been referred to the department, please submit a completed IPR1 Form at your earliest convenience.

Following confirmation a pipeline has been accepted under the Interim Pipeline Regime, the Offshore Decommissioning Unit will continue to monitor the condition of the pipeline by asking the Operator to confirm the status of the pipeline remains unchanged following future surveys at an agreed frequency. If you are an operator who wishes to request a change to the agreed frequency of surveys following acceptance of a pipeline into the IPR, please submit a completed IPR2 Form (MS Word Document, 53.4 KB) to odu@energysecurity.gov.uk. Please note that a recent survey (done that year) must have been completed before any change of survey frequency will be considered.

Further information

A list of all installations on the UKCS and their current status is available from the OSPAR Website

At the first ministerial meeting of the Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic (OSPAR) in 1998, a binding decision was agreed that set rules for the disposal of offshore installations at sea. Under the decision the dumping and leaving wholly or partly in place of offshore installations is prohibited. Decision 98/3 recognises it may be difficult to remove the ‘footings' of large steel jackets weighing more than 10,000 and concrete installations. As a result there are derogations for these categories of installations if the internationally agreed assessment and consultation process shows leaving them in place is justifiable.

OPRED has utilised decommissioning programme templates for derogation and non-derogation projects. These templates include all required content as detailed in Annex C of the guidance notes. There are also templates available which are currently being trialled for more specific and small scale decommissioning activity including rig reactivation and removal of a single Wellhead Protection Structure. Operator's should discuss all individual cases with OPRED who will advise of the appropriate template.

A Standard Decommissioning Programme Template (Non-Derogation Cases)(PDF, 608 KB, 33 pages) is available - (March 2025).

A Standard Decommissioning Programme Template (Derogation Cases) (PDF, 1.11 MB, 37 pages) is also available (November 2018).

A word version of these templates can also be requested from OPRED. Please email odu@energysecurity.gov.uk for further details.

Cost recovery

OPRED will charge a fee in respect of offshore (oil and gas) installations and pipelines decommissioning programmes under the Petroleum Act 1998. Guidance, including the indicative fee structure, is available in Guidance on charging a fee for offshore (oil and gas) installations and pipelines under the Petroleum Act 1998 (PDF, 308 KB, 9 pages)