UK oil, gas 2030 emissions target 'within reach': NSTA

The UK oil and gas sector cut upstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions again in 2023 and its 2030 target "appears within reach", the government's North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said today.

But this is "just one step… and does not diminish the urgency of further abatement", the NSTA said. The UK oil and gas industry in 2021 signed the government's North Sea transition deal, which set offshore production emission reduction targets of 10pc by 2025, 25pc by 2027 and 50pc by 2030, all from a 2018 baseline.

The UK upstream oil and gas industry emitted 12.9mn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2023, a 3.7pc drop on the year, and 29pc lower than 2018 levels, the NSTA said. Of the decrease in GHG emissions, half came from "actively producing assets" and the other half from assets that had ceased or were approaching the end of production.

Absolute emissions fell, but emissions intensity increased on the year in 2023, "as expected in a basin with declining production", the NSTA said. It projected the average emissions intensity for offshore assets at 24kg of CO2e/bl of oil equivalent (boe) in 2023 — up from 22kg of CO2e/boe in 2022.

The majority of emissions, at 79pc, were from hydrocarbon combustion for offshore power generation. Flaring and venting accounted for 17pc and 3pc of GHGs, respectively.

"Electrification or low-carbon power must play a significant role" in further reducing emissions, the NSTA said. It warned that if electrification is considered "reasonable" for existing developments but has not been implemented, "there should be no expectation that the NSTA will approve field development plans and similar decisions that give access to future hydrocarbon resources on that asset."

The organisation also promised "increased scrutiny of assets with high emissions intensity" and said it will publish later this year a list of assets that flare routinely. The amount of gas flared in 2023 was the lowest on record, at 691mn m³, although it dropped only incrementally from the previous year, the NSTA found.

The upstream industry's "total production emissions" make up just over 3pc of overall UK emissions, according to the NSTA. The North Sea industry has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 90pc by 2040, from 2018 levels, and to net zero by 2050. The UK has a legally binding goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2050.

Overall, upstream emissions make up a relatively small proportion of total GHG emissions from the fossil fuel industry. The UK government in August said it would develop new environmental guidance for oil and gas firms, in light of a recent Supreme Court decision that ruled consent for an oil development was unlawful, as the scope 3 emissions — those from burning the oil produced — were not considered.

By Georgia Gratton