OGA Confirms Ongoing Flexibility

The UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has confirmed its ongoing flexibility to license change requests caused by Covid-19.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the OGA said it will  adopt a blended approach to license management by incorporating what the organization has learned during 2020 with the pre-Covid-19 OGA ‘business as usual’ approach. The OGA outlined that it was taking this course of action in the interests of ensuring that vital, time-critical, activity is maintained in the UK continental shelf to safeguard the energy supply it knows is needed for the foreseeable future and the thousands of jobs which help deliver it.

“Where supported with clear evidence, flexibility may still be available in relation to license timelines that are affected by the ongoing Covid-19 crisis as the UK has only recently entered a new lockdown period,” the OGA said in an organization statement.

“The OGA will continue to keep its approach to considering amendments to license timelines under review and would remind operators/licensees to approach the OGA early with regard to any request to amend a license timeline, and in compliance with the timelines specified in the license,” the OGA continued. 

In response to the pandemic which first affected the UK early last year, the OGA announced on March 24, 2020, that it would seek to ease the pressures on the industry by taking a pragmatic approach to compliance where it could. The OGA signaled at the time that it would take a flexible approach to considering amendments to license timelines.

As of January 13, 9.47am CET, there have been 3.1 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, with 81,960 deaths, according to the latest information from the World Health Organization (WHO). Globally, there have been 90 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1.94 million deaths, as of January 13, 9.47am CET, WHO figures show.

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