Under the provisions of regulation 8 of the Disclosure Regulations the NSTA may disclose certain summary wellbore information as soon as the NSTA has obtained it. In practice, much summary wellbore information is already publicly available and its disclosure is non-contentious. However, it is important to note that regulation 8 gives the NSTA the powers to publish summary information about the results of a well or wellbore as soon as it has been obtained.
The NSTA will only consider delayed or non-disclosure of summary well information, including well results, in exceptional circumstances. Relevant persons wishing to make representations against disclosure should contact the NSTA, ideally when planning the well, but certainly before the relevant WONS submission is due.
Regulation 8
Summary well information is being published by the NSTA under UK Statutory Instruments 2018, No. 898, PART 2, Regulation 8.
This regulation applies to the following information which is acquired or created by or on behalf of an offshore licensee and relates to a well—
(a)whether there is any other well connected to the well;
(b)whether any other well has been drilled under the relevant licence to search, bore for or get petroleum from the same strata;
(c)where the well is associated with a petroleum field, the name of the field;
(d)the geographic coordinates of the points at which the well penetrates the seabed and reaches total depth;
(e)the date drilling started;
(f)the depth of the water at the point at which the well penetrates the seabed;
(g)the total depth of the well;
(h)the location from which the depth of the well was measured;
(i)the distance above sea level of the location from which the depth of the well was measured;
(j)the date the total depth of the well was reached;
(k)the status of the well;
(l)the following information about the strata which are or may be encountered while undertaking any of the activities listed in regulation 9(1)(b)—
(i)name;
(ii)age;
(iii)thickness, and
(iv)type of rock;
(v)whether petroleum has been found and if so, whether it is oil or gas, and
(vi)the results of any flow test.
(2) Where this regulation applies, the NSTA (or a subsequent holder) may publish the information after the date on which the information is obtained by the NSTA.