Decommissioning—International Law and UK Government Policy

Produced in partnership with Isla Stewart of Matheson

Practice notes

Decommissioning—International Law and UK Government Policy

Produced in partnership with Isla Stewart of Matheson

Practice notes

The UK’s policy on decommissioning, and its execution, is overseen by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). DESNZ was established on 7 February 2023 and has taken over the energy portfolio of the former Department for Business, Energy and industrial strategy (beis), which no longer exists - including its functions in respect of decommissioning. References to ‘BEIS’ within this practice note are references to historical functions of BEIS. While the UK has policy documentation, much of this policy stems from the UK’s obligations under international law.

International Law—installations

The Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf 1958 (Geneva Convention) was the original convention that governed the law of the sea (and remains the only convention that refers to ‘removal’ of installations). The Convention was ratified by UK in 1964 by the Continental Shelf Act 1964 (CSA 1964) which vested in the Crown all rights exercisable in designated areas outside territorial waters in relation to the sea bed and subsoil in those areas.

Today, there are two fundamental international conventions that apply to the decommissioning

Isla Stewart

Matheson

Isla is an Associate in the Oil & Gas team. She qualified in 2010 after spending her traineeship with a leading international law firm. Isla then spent three years with the offshore oil and gas industry's leading trade association, Oil & Gas UK, as their in-house lawyer where she gained a strong background in working on complex industry issues across the UKCS.

Isla advises both operator and service sector clients on a range of aspects including asset acquisitions and disposals, joint venture matters and service sector contracts.

She has also been involved in a number of industry initiatives, most prominently the revision of the LOGIC general terms and conditions, the competing interests of the renewables industry offshore and the development of post-tax security for decommissioning security agreements.

Isla has also spent time on secondment to upstream oil and gas companies Talisman-Sinopec and Maersk Oil.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Decommissioning definition

What does Decommissioning mean?

The final phase in the life cycle of an energy installation covering all activities from shutdown and removal of equipment and material to environmental restoration of the site.

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