This paper analyzes the articulation between traditional prescriptive approaches to regulation and risk-based approaches. The debate as to which approach is the most appropriate one has become one of great interest to the offshore community for at least three reasons: first, the application of risk analysis techniques is now mature in the industry and research in that field is more active than ever; second, the possibility of installing a FPSO system in deepwater Gulf of Mexico is becoming more

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... and more probable; third and finally, this perspective poses a certain number of questions, as it would entail the use of technologies which may or may not be covered by current regulations. These gaps in the regulatory framework are the ones where choices will have to be made between developing new prescriptive rules, allowing the substitution of risk-based rules, or choosing a pure goal-setting approach. This paper examines a set of criteria which could be used to delineate the boundaries of these approaches and proposes a rational process to address the issue of whether a compliancebased system of regulation should be used or rather a riskbased, goal-setting system should prevail. More specifically, we suggest guidelines which could be used by the regulatory authorities to establish their regulations or by an operator facing the choice between complying with existing prescriptive rules or performing a risk analysis to establish that its installation is safe.