Offshore staff
LONDON — Emissions from UK offshore oil and gas production fell for the third consecutive year in 2022, according to the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).
Last year’s estimated 3% reduction meant that emissions fell by 23% between 2018 and 2022.
However, although the industry is on track to reduce the sector’s emissions 10% by 2025 and 25% by 2027, as agreed in the 2021 North Sea Transition Deal with the UK government, further measures will be needed to halve emissions by 2030.
That is the minimum target the NSTA has set for the industry.
Last year the NSTA warned that a probable increase in UK oil and gas production in 2022 could potentially cause emissions to temporarily rise, but investment in technologies to minimize flaring combined with fuel-efficiency initiatives kept emissions on the downward path.
One offshore operator replaced components in a gas export compressor, lowering its fuel consumption by 18 metric tons/d and saving 20,000 metric t/year of CO2e.
Emissions fell on 78% of UK offshore facilities between 2018 and 2022. In certain cases, this was due to permanent shutdowns, but in 59% of cases, the drop was down to active emissions reduction initiatives. However, the NSTA cautioned that although the carbon footprint of UK gas is on average almost four times lower than imported LNG, it remains more than twice as large as gas imported from Norway.
09.05.2023
