OGA: new guidance on reporting and disclosure of information and samples

The Oil and Gas Authority (“OGA”) has now published its guidance on Reporting and Disclosure of Information and Samples (the “Guidance”). The Guidance is designed to provide information on the OGA’s requirements for the reporting of information and samples that are retained by relevant persons under the Oil and Gas Authority (Offshore Petroleum) (Retention of Information and Samples) Regulations 2018 (the “Retention Regulations”) and subsequently must be reported to the OGA in accordance with a notice issued under s34 of the Energy Act 2016 (the “2016 Act”). The Guidance also provides information on the Oil and Gas Authority (Offshore Petroleum) (Disclosure of Protected Material after Specified Period) Regulations 2018 (the “Disclosure Regulations”) and how the OGA will implement them.

Reporting of information and samples

S34 of the 2016 Act is the mechanism through which the OGA can require the reporting of certain petroleum-related information and samples by issuing a notice in writing to specified relevant persons. Specified relevant persons are defined in the 2016 Act as being those persons listed in section 9A(1)(b) of the Petroleum Act 1998. These are holders of petroleum licences; operators under petroleum licences; owners of upstream petroleum infrastructure; and persons planning and carrying out the commissioning of upstream petroleum infrastructure.

The OGA may require information and samples to be reported for several reasons, for example:

• In support of its functions as a regulator;
• For the long-term preservation of information and samples;
• For the subsequent disclosure of information and samples under the Disclosure Regulations;
• For the purposes of carrying out any of its functions which are relevant to the fulfilment of the principal objective of maximising the economic recovery of UK petroleum (“MER UK”).

A s34 notice can be issued to cover routine reporting, information submitted to the OGA as part of its normal regulatory activities, or specified items, samples, or datasets. Failure to comply with reporting requirements imposed by a s34 notice is sanctionable in accordance with Chapter 5 of the 2016 Act.

Who do you report to?

Information and samples must be reported to one of the following:

• Directly to the OGA via the Energy Portal (this is primarily for well information);
• The National Data Repository (“NDR”). This is where the majority of information is to be reported. The NDR is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2019. Any s34 notice issued before this date may specify whether reporting can be postponed until after the NDR is operational;
• The OGA technical data services mailbox ([email protected]); and
• Samples are to be reported to the British Geological Survey.

Samples

The Retention Regulations set out what samples are required to be reported to the OGA. Reporting will either be required in response to a routine s34 notice or a standalone s34 notice requesting particular samples from a particular wellbore. Samples may also be required to be reported in relation to an agreed Information and Samples Plan (“ISP”) or in response to a request for disposal of the samples in question. The Guidance summarises the samples to be reported, the form and manner, where and when they should be reported, and whether reporting is routine or in response to a standalone s34 notice.

Disclosure

One of the principal reasons the OGA will ask for information and samples to be reported is for their subsequent disclosure in support of MER UK. The Disclosure Regulations give the OGA powers to disclose information and samples after varying specified periods. To qualify for disclosure under these regulations the information and/or samples in question must:

• Be within the scope of the Disclosure Regulations; and
• Have been reported to the OGA in accordance with a s34 notice.

Protected periods

The time periods during which information or samples may not be disclosed (the “protected period”) and the event that determines the start of that protected period, varies accordingly to the type of information or sample. Factors to consider are set out in s66(5) of the 2016 Act and include:

• Whether the specified time will allow owners of protected material a reasonable period of time to satisfy the main purpose for which they acquired or created the material;
• Any potential benefits to the petroleum industry of protected material being published or made available at the specified time; and
• Any potential risk that the specified time may discourage persons from acquiring or creating petroleum-related information or petroleum-related samples.

The OGA’s powers under the Disclosure Regulations are discretionary. The OGA may disclose information, at the earliest, after the specified periods or they may choose to delay disclosure or not disclose the information or sample at all. The Disclosure Regulations and the Guidance mean that new data types not previously widely published will be available for use by industry and the supply chain. In many cases, the OGA has shortened disclosure periods from those proposed when it consulted on an earlier draft of the Regulations, meaning information and samples will be available for use more quickly than was previously anticipated.

Comment

The Guidance is designed to underpin the OGA’s strategy of data transparency and fulfil the objective of “ensuring greater access to timely and transparent data to facilitate MER UK, while minimising burden on industry”. The Guidance should be read in conjunction with the Retention and Disclosure Regulations.

Following publication of the Guidance, the OGA have stated they will be issuing notices to relevant persons using powers already in force under the 2016 Act to obtain information and samples.

The full Guidance can be found here.