The object of these regulations is to ensure, over the operating life of offshore pipelines that are for use in conveying petroleum, that licensees for the pipelines use systems, work practices and procedures that will ensure that –

(a) the pipelines are designed, constructed, operated and modified in ways that are suitable for the purposes for which the pipelines are to be used; and

(b) proposals for decommissioning pipelines are suitable for the purposes for which they are made; and

(c) the risks of significant pipeline accident events and the risks to the integrity of the pipelines are reduced to levels as low as reasonably practicable.