The first digitally signed chemical consent for the Shell Shearwater platform wa ...

The first digitally signed chemical consent for the Shell Shearwater platform was completed on 11 January 2005. In a major step forward for the UK government's e-agenda, the whole process was conducted electronically between Shell, the DTI and all other interested parties using the UK Oil Portal. The final consent is held digitally in legally admissible form within DTI. The UK government has set challenging targets for making all government services available electronically by 2005. The Licensing and Consents Unit of the DTI intends to implement these targets via the UK Oil Portal - www.og.dti.gov.uk/portal.htm -using the Internet. Oil companies will be able to apply for all their consents online and will also be able to deliver regular reports on-line. The Portal will introduce a significant change to all business processes in that all the work will be completely paperless. There will be a number of advantages for the oil industry. It will be the focus for all government interaction for approvals and consents and these should be processed more efficiently and quicker than at present. It will also significantly reduce the need for physical storage and handling of paper. One element of this involves the need for authenticated communication in and out of the UK Oil Portal in a number of associated electronic transactions. As an example, the scope of the UK Oil Portal will allow companies to apply online for permission to conduct oil related activities in the UKCS and to receive their legal consent via the UK Oil Portal. These electronic consents are authenticated with a digital certificate on behalf of the Secretary of State and stored automatically within the DTI's electronic document filing system, accredited to the correct level to be legally admissible. Such consents will be delivered to applicants via the UK Oil Portal.