HL Deb 03 November 1988 vol 501 cc466-7WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the international rules under which the cutting down and/or removal of the installation, Piper Alpha, in the North Sea will be permitted; from whom will advice and opinions be sought on matters of short-term and of long-term safety, in view of the reported presence on the platform of several tons of a hazardous chemical; and whether those consulted will include the EEC Commission, the International Council for the Protection of the Sea, NATO, the Norwegian and other governments of states bordering on the North Sea.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy (Baroness Hooper)

My noble friend Lord Davidson set out in some detail the principles of international law relating to platform abandonment in the Answer he gave to the noble Lord's Question on 23rd February 1987 (Hansard Vol. 485, cols. 83–84). Since then the International Maritime Organisation has published Guidelines and Standards for the Removal of Offshore Installations and Structures on the Continental Shelf and in the Exclusive Economic Zone (MSC Circular No. 490 dated 4th May 1988) and these have been endorsed by the Oslo Commission and the parties to the London Dumping Convention.

An abandonment programme for the Piper Alpha installation has been called for and received by the Secretary of State for Energy under Section 4 of the Petroleum Act 1987. This has not yet been approved. My department is in close touch with the Department of Transport and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland over the navigational safety and marine environmental implications of the programme. The Nature Conservancy Council has also volunteered advice. My right honourable friend the Minister of State will be meeting the Scottish Fishermen's Federation on 2nd November. We do not propose to consult any of the bodies listed by the noble Lord in his Question, since abandonment is a matter which falls wholly within the competence of the coastal state, subject to the requirements of international law.