North Sea Transition Authority

The NSTA is pushing operators to tackle the backlog of North Sea wells due for decommissioning, in an effort to stop rigs leaving the North Sea and avoid billions of pounds of additional costs. With over 500 wells having already missed their decommissioning targets, the NSTA is concerned that delays are damaging the decommissioning supply chain, causing rig owners to seek opportunities elsewhere. In 2024 the NSTA began opening investigations – it has said it is willing to help operators to speed up decommissioning, but is also prepared to “get tough” with those who continue to delay. And, as noted above, the government’s recent consultation response looks at giving the NSTA greater powers in this area.

A key part of the NSTA's brief is energy security. This includes managing the declining domestic production of oil and gas effectively and maximising value. The government has argued that the expansion of licensing supported in some quarters would damage its net zero strategy without seriously changing the energy security equation. It is fair to say that not everyone in the industry agrees and the present rate of production falls well short of domestic demand. The government’s view is that the “route to energy security” is “actively scaling up clean energy industries and decommissioning as the basin matures”. It has confirmed that there will be no new licences to explore new fields. But that may not be a complete end to permitting oil and gas development offshore – the North Sea Future Plan includes proposals to allow new developments to be tied back to existing infrastructure through the new Transitional Energy Certificate.

The NSTA is working to halve upstream emissions by 2030, saying that domestic hydrocarbon production can only be justified if it continues to get cleaner. The steps it is taking include requiring businesses to produce action plans; taking active steps to ‘manage out’ older, high emitting assets; eliminating routine flaring and venting; and requiring most new oil and gas developments to be either fully electrified or run on alternative low carbon power. In its September 2025 Emissions Monitoring Report, the NSTA reported a fall in UKCS production emissions of 7% between 2023 and 2024 and a total decrease of 34% since 2018. Despite progress being made, the NSTA warned that without further investment, particularly in electrification and flaring reduction, industry will not meet the emissions targets.

In 2024 the NSTA granted the UK’s first carbon storage permit and a new round of carbon storage licences launched in December 2025. The NSTA believes the UK has the resources to become a global centre of excellence for carbon storage, with the UK continental shelf thought to account for about 85% of Europe’s total potential carbon storage.

Since 2023 the NSTA has been responsible for the licensing and consenting of offshore hydrogen pipelines and offshore hydrogen storage. It argues that hydrogen can be a key enabler to the energy transition, complementing offshore wind and electrification and providing flexible back-up to intermittent power sources. However, the development of offshore hydrogen infrastructure is still at an early stage. A refreshed UK Hydrogen Strategy was expected in the autumn but has not yet appeared.