The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) will not review environmental statements (ESs) until it issues new guidance resulting from the Finch ruling in spring 2025.
OPRED has today issued a statement on the Supreme Court judgment in relation to the appeal on the Finch case (Finch vs Surrey County Council).
Despite relating to onshore oil and gas development, the judgment has implications for offshore projects meaning that end use emissions from burning the extracted hydrocarbons require assessment in offshore oil and gas ESs.
OPRED will develop new ES guidance to reflect the new requirements so will not assess any ES submissions until this guidance is issued to avoid submissions without required content. OPRED aims to roll out this guidance by spring 2025.
Source: OPRED.