Page 18: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2024)

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MARKETS DECOMMISSIONING 1. Chain of ownership: Countries are writing

Protecting the Taxpayer – r egulations to ensure companies can’t ‘sell off’

Chain of Ownership and Sureties

Governments are putting in place regulations to ensure their decommissioning obligations and forget abandonment liabilities don’t end up with the taxpayer. A about them – in bankruptcy cases, the liabilities couple of cases underline this concern. In Australia and passed on can come back to bite the original

New Zealand, fairly recent E&P bankruptcies resulted in sellers via the historic chain of ownership. While $215 million and $192 million respectively in costs falling establishing this chain can be very diffcult onto taxpayer shoulders. Indeed, the US Department of onshore, it’s a lot easier offshore where the

Interior states that the new rules covering the US OCS will par ticipants tend to be established companies.

When F ieldwood in the US GoM went under, “…protect taxpayers from covering costs that should be borne by the oil and gas industry when offshore platforms it left $2.5 billion in decommissioning liabilities. This was passed back to the prior asset owners, require decommissioning”.

18 OFFSHORE ENGINEER OEDIGITAL.COM