Part 3: Infrastructure and Information Decommissioning Section 73: Duty to act in accordance with strategy: decommissioning and alternatives
Section 73 amends Part 1A of the Petroleum Act 1998 (maximising economic recovery of UK petroleum) to replace the existing duty under section 9C(3) with a wider duty under new section 9C(5) which applies to owners of relevant offshore installations (as defined in new section 9HA inserted by section 73(4)) and owners of upstream petroleum infrastructure (as defined in new section 9H inserted by section 74(2)). The new duty requires those persons to act in accordance with the current strategy or strategies produced under section 9A(2) when planning and carrying out activities as the owner of the installation or infrastructure, or when planning and carrying out the abandonment or decommissioning of the installation or infrastructure.
	New section 9C(7) clarifies that the duty to act in accordance with the current strategy when planning the decommissioning of the installation or infrastructure includes consideration of alternatives to decommissioning such as preservation or re-use. The requirement to consider re-use includes re-use for purposes other than for which the infrastructure was originally put.