Shell has been fined £50,000 by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) for breaching production consents.
The regulator requires the consents for companies to produce oil and gas. It has now served the company with a sanction notice for breaching five field consents.
The NSTA said adhering to production consents is “an indicator of good stewardship of fields, and is an important component of a stable, well-regulated industry which has the trust and confidence of investors and the public”.
The NSTA raised concerns with Shell in November 2020 that it had failed to comply with the maximum and minimum volumes specified in the production consents for five North Sea fields that year.
An investigation by the regulator confirmed the failure – with a review by Shell finding it had failed to conduct an effective handover following a restructuring exercise.
Tom Wheeler, director of regulation at the NSTA, said: “In this instance, Shell did not live up to its commitments and responsibilities, in a way that could detract from industry’s social licence to operate.
“However, Shell did co-operate fully with the NSTA’s investigation and is already implementing the recommendations from its internal review, dealing with the immediate causes of the failure to comply with production consents.
“The NSTA is committed to maintaining a stable and predictable system of regulation which encourages investment in relevant activities and is working with industry to ensure that compliance continues to improve.”
A Shell spokesperson responded: “We take our regulatory commitments very seriously and on this occasion we fell short.
“We have undertaken an internal review and acted on its findings, as well as cooperating with an investigation by the regulator; we will have regular reviews with the NSTA and value this collaboration.”
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