Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Likely Impact on UK Regulation and Contractual Arrangements

Abstract

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill resulted in a temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling and implementation of new regulation in the USA. Consequential organic changes to UK regulations are perhaps unlikely but more importance on the interpretation of existing regulations through continued and improved technical guidance is evident combined with greater enforcement of existing regulations. There is perhaps unlikely to be a fundamental change to the “no gain, no loss” principle of operatorship, but rather, increased scrutiny of contractual allocation of risk and rising insurance premia.