North Sea Transition Deal makes strong progress just months after agreement

A review of the oil and gas industry’s progress against the terms of the North Sea Transition Deal (NSTD), conducted by OGUK, has shown strong progress in the first ten months since the ground-breaking deal was signed, with several key milestones already reached.

The NSTD, agreed at the end of March 2021, set out an ambitious plan for how the UK offshore oil and gas sector and the UK Government would work together to deliver the skills, innovation and infrastructure required to meet the UK’s carbon reduction targets.

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

Ten months on from this agreement, the first of its kind among G7 countries, both industry and government have made strong progress in a number of areas – from the reduction of carbon emissions from the UK Continental Shelf, to the launch of the Methane Action Plan, the selection of two ‘Track 1’ CCS projects in North East and North West of England and the successful OGA £1m electrification competition.

“In less than ten 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," said Deirdre Michie, CEO of OGUK.

"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.”