Industry, government acting on North Sea transition deal

Offshore staff

LONDON – OGUK has detailed milestones achieved to date by the UK offshore oil and gas industry under the North Sea Transition Deal, agreed with the UK government last March.

This set out ways in which the sector and the government would co-operate to deliver the skills, innovation, and infrastructure needed for the UK to meet its carbon reduction targets.

In addition to the sector achieving net zero emissions by 2050, the deal seeks to safeguard/transition thousands of existing jobs while also creating 40,000 new jobs by 2030 in carbon capture storage (CCS), hydrogen production, and other emerging industries.

Progress to date includes action on reducing carbon emissions from operations on the UK continental shelf; a new Methane Action Plan; the selection of two ‘Track 1’ CCS projects in industrialized areas in northeast and northwest England; and grants for new R&D projects arising from the Oil and Gas Authority’s electrification competition.

Deirdre Michie, CEO of OGUK, said: “In less than 10 months, the UK government and the offshore sector have made huge progress against the ambitious terms of the North Sea Transition Deal – working to reduce carbon emissions, invest in new energy technology, and build the foundations for a just transition to net zero by 2050.

“This is only the beginning, but I believe that through close cooperation with governments across the UK, we will deliver on the deal – which can act as a blueprint for collaboration in other countries.” 

02/07/2022