Expectations

In consultation with the industry, we have developed stewardship expectations across the oil and gas lifecycle, for operators and licensees.

These good practice expectations are aligned with the MER UK Strategy supporting obligations and are designed to help achieve consistent stewardship performance.

Stewardship expectations were developed for the following areas:

• Licensing
• Exploration
• Developments
• Production optimisation
• Decommissioning
• Supply chain and contracting strategy
• Technology
• Information management

An accompanying implementation guide, providing further detail to assist operators and licensees in achieving them, supports each expectation. This includes the rationale, the expected outcomes and a description of key elements or behaviours required to meet our expectations.

We will observe the performance of operators and licensees against the stewardship expectations and, if appropriate, seek to improve performance in relation to particular assets. Where an expectation has not been achieved, following discussions with the licensee, we may consider whether or not the licensee is complying with their obligations under the MER UK Strategy.

The below documents provide guidance on the OGA's process to assess operators' collaborative behaviour.