Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Upstream definition

What does Upstream mean? In legal practice, “upstream” describes exploration and production (E&P) activities: acquiring rights to search for petroleum, conducting seismic and appraisal, drilling and field development, and producing hydrocarbons to the point of export or entry into midstream infrastructure. It is a widely used commercial and regulatory descriptor rather than a defined statutory term, appearing across contracts, regulatory guidance and transaction documents. Typical upstream documents include petroleum licences and leases, assignments and farm-out agreements, joint operating agreements (JOAs), drilling and oilfield services contracts, security and project finance instruments, and decommissioning arrangements. Key legal issues include title to petroleum in situ and on production,...

UK Continental Shelf Upstream Oil and Gas: Practitioner’s Guide to Lifecycle Agreements, Key Contracts, Parties and Model Forms from Licensing to Decommissioning

Published by a LexisNexis Energy expert

Practice notes

For additional practical guidance on financing energy, power and resources projects across various sectors, including those addressed in this Practice Note, consult the textbook Energy and Resources Financing: A Practical Handbook.

What is the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) petroleum project Lifecycle?

The lifecycle of a typical UKCS petroleum project can be understood as a series of stages. Each phase of an Upstream project involves multiple legal contracts, with the precise combination determined by the project’s characteristics, including the nature of the field, the parties involved and the planned activities. Below is a succinct overview of the commercial agreements most commonly encountered at each stage of a standard upstream petroleum project on the UKCS.

Financial agreements associated with an upstream petroleum project, together with arrangements for the acquisition and disposal of UKCS assets, are beyond the scope of this Practice Note.

Licensing

Licensing is the process by which a party tenders for, and is granted, a licence to explore for and/or produce petroleum. For further information, see Practice Note: Oil & Gas—UKCS licensing regime...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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