The licence model clauses oblige the licensee to nominate an entity that has responsibility for organising or supervising all or any of the operations of searching or boring for or getting petroleum in pursuance of the licence, namely: 

  • Licence (Exploration) Operator; and
  • Field Operator

and the NSTA must approve this entity.

Offshore pipelines are subject to the provisions of the Petroleum Act 1998; the pipeline operator has responsibility for organising, supervising or undertaking all operations.  The associated Pipelines Works Authorisation obliges the parties to appoint an operator and obtain the written consent of the NSTA.

The 2013 EU Offshore Safety Directive was the direct response to the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico and introduced the additional operator concepts of:

  • Well Operator; and
  • Installation Operator

The directive was implemented into UK law by The Offshore Petroleum Licensing (Offshore Safety Directive) Regulations 2015 (“the 2015 Regs”).  The licensees are responsible for nominating a Well Operator and/or Installation Operator.  Operator approvals are on a standalone basis (i.e. specific to a licence, field, block, pipeline, well or installation) and independent of approvals of Licence (Exploration) Operator or Field Operator .  

The Well and Installation Operator Service (WIOS) System of Record lists current OSD well and installation operator appointments. It is accessible to all here.  For more detail, please refer to the NSTA’s Offshore Safety Directive guidance. 

The NSTA has the power to revoke operator approval where the entity no longer has the competence or capacity to meet the requirements for the operations in respect of which it was appointed.