Policy paper

North Sea Transition Deal

Sector deal between government and the offshore oil and gas industry.

Documents

Details

The North Sea Transition Deal sets out an ambitious plan for how the UK’s offshore oil and gas sector and the government will work together to deliver the skills, innovation and new infrastructure required to meet stretching greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

The Deal aims to support and anchor the expert supply chain that has built up around oil and gas in the UK, to both safeguard and create new high quality jobs. The Deal will transform the sector in preparation for a net zero future and catalyse growth throughout the UK economy.

March 2022: One year on

One year after the publication of the North Sea Transition Deal in March 2021, government and industry continues to be committed to work together to deliver significant progress in implementing the commitments that were made.

This report highlights the progress made to date across a number of areas in the Deal, including:

  • supply decarbonisation
  • developing CCUS and hydrogen
  • transforming the supply chain
  • aligning cross-sector energy training and standards to facilitate workforce mobility

It also sets out the priority areas that government and industry have identified to enable us to continue to build on our success.

Details of the deal

The deal includes:

  • early reductions in offshore production emissions of 10% by 2025; 25% by 2027; and 50% by 2030, against a 2018 baseline, to meet the sector’s aim of creating a net zero basin by 2050. This will be supported by joint work to address the commercial and regulatory barriers to electrification of offshore platforms to realise these targets
  • investment of up to £14-16 billion by 2030 in new energy technologies, with supported by business models to enable CCUS and hydrogen at scale
  • a voluntary industry target of 50% local UK content across the lifecycle for all related new energy technology projects by 2030, as well as in oil and gas decommissioning. This will be supported by the appointment of an industry supply chain champion who will support the coordination of opportunities with other sectors
  • a 60Mt reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, including 15Mt through the progressive decarbonisation of UKCS production over the period to 2030
  • support for up to 40,000 direct and indirect supply chain jobs in decarbonising UKCS production and the CCUS and hydrogen sectors
Published 24 March 2021
Last updated 21 March 2022 + show all updates
  1. North Sea Transition Deal One Year On published.

  2. First published.