The Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage (Financing of Costs of Offshore Decommissioning) Regulations 2026

18 Accounts

(1) The fund holder and a fund administrator must ensure that— (a) fund assets of a single offshore decommissioning fund are segregated and held in a separate account from— (i) an account or assets used for the costs and expenses related to running that offshore decommissioning fund during the fund operational period, (ii) an account or assets used by the fund holder or fund administrator for any other purpose unrelated to that offshore decommissioning fund, including an account or assets of a different decommissioning fund, (b) where fund assets are invested, those investments are kept in an account separate from other investments, (c) an account holding fund assets is designated in such a way as to show that it is an account that is held for the purposes of providing security for offshore decommissioning costs, and (d) no person may have any interest in, or right over fund assets placed in an account in accordance with sub-paragraphs (b) or (c) except as provided for by or under these Regulations (including in accordance with a Secretary of State approval under these Regulations). (2) The fund holder must— (a) keep proper accounts and proper records in relation to the offshore decommissioning fund, in accordance with paragraph (1), (b) prepare a statement of accounts in respect of the fund for each financial year that— (i) conforms so far as practicable with relevant accounting and reporting standards required under any other enactment and with best practice, and (ii) includes the information required by paragraph (3), and (c) provide a copy of the statement of accounts to the Secretary of State, by no later than the 15th May following the end of each financial year. (3) The statement of accounts provided to the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph (2)(c) must include the following information for the financial year— (a) the value of the offshore decommissioning fund, including investments made and assets held, at the end of the financial year, (b) the change in value of the fund since the end of the previous financial year, (c) payments made into the fund, (d) payments made out of the fund or payment obligations incurred but not yet paid, (e) interest earned and the return on investments, (f) calculation of tax due for that financial year and date that payment of tax will be due, (g) where the financial year, or part of it, occurs during the post operations period, a breakdown of the post operations fund administration costs paid out of the fund, (h) infrastructure reports, and (i) an explanation of— (i) the reasons for any variance between the value of fund assets in an offshore decommissioning fund and the figures in the fund accrual profile, (ii) the impact of that variance on the fund sufficiency targets, (iii) whether, in the case of a deficit against one or more fund sufficiency targets, it is reasonable to believe that the deficit may be remedied by the next periodic review date. (4) For the matters mentioned in paragraphs (3)(c), (d) and (e), the statement of accounts must include— (a) a cumulative total, and (b) the individual transactions for the financial year. (5) An infrastructure report must include the accounting code for the infrastructure estimate covered and must set out— (a) the relevant fund sufficiency targets, and (b) an assessment of the impact of fund value against fund sufficiency targets, in light of the explanation given pursuant to paragraph (3)(i). (6) The Secretary of State must consider the information and explanations provided pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (5) to determine whether any actions may be required, including— (a) remedial measures under regulation 19, (b) recovery measures under regulation 20, or (c) an interim adjustment of fund sufficiency targets for the purposes of infrastructure reports, which may include re-allocation between accounting codes, pending the next revision of the approved fund estimate or the approved funding and investment strategy.