§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade how many of the offshore oil and gas industry installations in the United Kingdom sector of the North496W sea could be disposed of at sea under the present legal provisions; and what is the total weight of these installations in metric tonnes. [29336]
§ Mr. PageThe Government have made it clear that the decommissioning of offshore installations will be consistent with our international obligations, including the International Maritime Organisation's guidelines and standards for the removal of offshore installations. Application of the IMO guidelines and standards to the UK continental shelf—UKCS—means that shallow water installations in less than 75 m of water will be entirely removed. That represents almost three quarters of all UKCS fixed installations. It is likely that they will be returned to shore. In deeper waters, installations may be partially removed provided that there is at least 55 m of clear water above any remains. Around 60 fixed installations fall in to this category representing a total weight of some 3.3 million tonnes. Decisions on their decommissioning and disposal will be taken on the basis of an assessment of the best practicable environmental option in order to arrive at the appropriate solution in each case.