Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of leaving de-commissioned oil rigs in the North Sea.

The Department requires that all applications to leave part or all of an installation or pipeline in place at the time of decommissioning are supported by a detailed environmental impact assessment. The assessment must comply with international obligations, is reviewed by Departmental staff and relevant stakeholders, including environmental bodies and NGOs, and must be accepted by the Department before it approves the proposed operations. Details of projects under consideration can be found on our web page titled “Oil and gas: decommissioning of offshore installations and pipelines” on the gov.uk website.