More than £200billion could be spent on North Sea oil and gas, offshore wind, carbon-capture and storage and hydrogen projects before the end of the decade.
Stuart Payne, chief executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), set out the size of the prize at the International Energy Week conference in London yesterday.
He also called on industry to “get on with delivery, demonstrate progress and get real projects scaled up and running”.
There was also a warning of an “arms race to attract that capital”, with particular focus given to the need for the sector to work together across borders to share learnings.
“The organisation I lead, the NSTA, is stepping up to do all we can help the UK seize this great opportunity,” added Mr Payne.
“In a busy and often complex landscape, I have set my team the challenge to stay focused on delivering three things: Secure energy supplies for the UK; rapid decarbonisation of that supply; acceleration of the transition to net zero.”
Core ingregients
Energy Voice says that, according to the chief executive, the North Sea has the core ingredients to be a successful transition case study.
That includes bountiful offshore wind resources, six billion of barrels of oil and gas to be produced, and a “huge network of pipelines and infrastructure”.
It also has enough carbon storage potential for all the CO2 emitted in the UK since the industrial revolution.
Mr Payne said the NSTA is working with operators to steward 26 current projects through their maturation.
Last year it launched the 33rd offshore licensing round, the results of which are expected to be released in the coming months.
The CEO also warned against prematurely turning off the taps, highlighting that “these are all projects we need to help the country get as much energy as possible form our own resources”.
Decarbonising production
He added: “We also regulate the sector to ensure that energy is produced as cleanly as possible. Decarbonising production is essential and the North Sea Transition Deal provides a strong focus to the sector.
“There has been good early progress with emissions down 20% since 2018 including a 41% drop in flaring and venting which in 2021 was equivalent to the gas needed to heat 130,000 homes.
“We benchmark and monitor the sector’s progress, facilitating the sharing of good practice and highlighting those who are lagging behind. We want to see industry go further and faster and surpass the targets in the deal.
“Platform electrification will be key to success and we are working very closely with industry and other parts of the regulatory ecosystem to get key electrification projects into FEED this year.”
On the decommissioning front, the NSTA has been “working hard with industry” to make cost improvements.
In recent years the estimated total cost of safely removing and disposing of North Sea infrastructure has fallen from around £59billion to around £37billion.
Mr Payne said that was a “massive projected saving for industry and the taxpayer, and we’ve identified the potential for billions of pounds of savings that could be realised through reuse and repurposing of offshore facilities”.