Offshore safety inspections in the UK have increased since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to law firm Pinsent Masons.
The business said the UK Government unit responsible for monitoring standards on North Sea installations had stepped up its offshore visits since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.
Pinsent Masons said the Offshore Environmental Inspectorate was on track to increase inspections by a third since the disaster and argued it was evidence that a European Union proposal to take control of the UK’s safety regime was “trying to fix something which is not broken”.
Information obtained by Pinsent Masons revealed that in 2012, OEI will carry out 79 inspections, based on annualised data.
It said this compared with 59 in 2010 and 39 in 2007.
Pinsent Masons partner Laura Cameron said the UK’s offshore safety regime was one of the toughest in the world.
“Oil and gas operators in the UK learned some very difficult lessons after Piper Alpha and the Cullen Report,” she said, adding: “It would be catastrophic if we see any diminishment of standards in the UK as a result of EU action.
“We shouldn’t underestimate the impact that uncertainty like this can have on investment decisions.
“Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe and as such it’s important that the views of its constituents are heard at Holyrood, in Westminster and in Brussels.”
Recommended for you
