The Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee yesterday held the first oral evidence session of its "UK Deepwater Drilling - Implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill" inquiry.
The inquiry was announced on 21 July 2010 to cover a broad range of issues including:
- the extent to which the existing UK safety and environmental regulatory regime is fit for purpose;
- the hazards and risks of deepwater drilling to the west of Shetland;
- the role of deepwater oil and gas production during the UK's transition to a low carbon economy;
- the extent to which deepwater oil and gas resources contribute to the UK's security of supply; and
- the implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for deepwater drilling in the UK.
The Committee wants to find out about the safety and environmental regulations of oil and gas operations on the UK continental shelf, in particular in the deepwater to the west of the Shetlands, and the potential positive and negative impacts of a moratorium on deepwater drilling.
The oil and gas industry are encouraged to provide comments on any issues they consider relevant to the general inquiry, and in particular on those five issues listed above. The deadline for the submission of written evidence is Monday 13 September 2010. Details on how to make written submissions can be found on the Committee's website by clicking here.
The Energy and Climate Change Committee has 11 members and was appointed by the House of Commons on 19 January 2009 to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and its associated public bodies.
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The original publication date for this article was 08/07/2010.