There are also several provisions designed to minimise potential

There are also several provisions designed to minimise potential conflicts between offshore petroleum development and certain other established industries. The current Model Clauses prohibit petroleum licensees from undertaking authorised operations ‘in such a manner as Dabrafenib clinical trial to interfere unjustifiably with navigation or fishing in the waters of the Licensed Area or with the

conservation of the living resources of the sea.’ [85]. They also require the Licensee to maintain a relationship with local fishing industries [86]. Note also Petroleum Act 1987 sections 21, 23 and 24, establishing 500 m safety zones around oil and gas installations, and, per Energy Act 2008 section 32, around installations used for CO2 storage. The Crown Estate is a large property portfolio that is owned by the reigning monarch ‘in right of the Crown’, and is managed by an independent statutory corporation referred to as the Crown Estate Commissioners [87]. Surplus revenue generated by the Crown Estate is paid to the UK Treasury [88]. The Crown Estate Act 1961 sets out the powers and duties of the Commissioners, prescribing in general terms the manner in which the Estate is to be RG7422 managed [89]. The basic duty of the Commissioners in relation

to the Estate is to ‘maintain and enhance its value and the return obtained from it, but with due regard to the requirements of good management.’ [90]. The Crown Estate has a significant offshore component, which includes: almost all of the seabed within the UK territorial sea limit; in addition to the UK׳s sovereign rights over the continental shelf (except in relation GABA Receptor to oil, gas and coal), Renewable Energy Zone, and Gas Importation and Storage Zone [91]. Consequently,

in addition to satisfying applicable regulatory requirements, offshore CO2 storage licensable by DECC under the Energy Act 2008 (and broad range of other offshore activities) must also be authorised by a lease or licence agreement between the relevant developer and the Crown Estate Commissioners. The Crown Estate Commissioners must take into account their statutory duty to maintain and enhance the value of a cross-sectoral portfolio of property interests, and therefore have an incentive to minimise conflict between different offshore activities. In practice, a variety of spatial planning considerations and proximity checks are taken into account before decisions are taken to grant seabed rights via a lease or licence to prospective offshore developers [92]. Conditions designed to minimise conflicting offshore activities are also integrated into standard lease and licence agreements. For example: in their standard lease concerning offshore CO2 storage the Commissioners׳ retain a right of termination for lease areas (or part thereof) for which ‘oil and gas works’ are authorised under the Petroleum Act 1998 [93].

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