Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 4
4
Accepted in Part
Implement pragmatic North Sea licensing policy and clarify additional drilling permissions for developers.
Recommendation
The Government should set out how it intends to address the issue of the North Sea oil and gas industry’s decline outstripping the scale-up of clean energy. We urge the Government to take a pragmatic approach to its licensing policy as an outcome of its consultation, Building the North Sea’s Energy Future. In its response to this report, the Government should clarify how developers may be permitted to undertake additional drilling activity under existing exploration licences. (Recommendation, Paragraph 55)
Government Response Summary
The government agreed to a pragmatic approach by introducing Transitional Energy Certificates, which will permit specific additional drilling activity, such as infill wells or tie-backs, in areas adjacent to existing fields to maximise their lifespan.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The government agrees with the importance of taking a pragmatic approach. Transitional Energy Certificates will enable some oil and gas production in areas adjacent to already licensed fields. For a Transitional Energy Certificate to be awarded, the NSTA must be satisfied that any eventual development on that site: • Will not undertake any exploration, and • Is for a block of acreage which is part of, or adjacent to (linked by a tieback), an existing field, and • The activity is necessary for a managed, prosperous and orderly transition. Given that no exploration is permitted, the area should already be well-understood. These certificates recognise the often-iterative nature of oil and gas developments by allowing the often-used methods for maximising existing fields to continue - such as ‘tying back’ to other areas or drilling ‘infill wells’. It will help to maintain existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan and ensure they remain economically viable.