The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) and the Crown Estate have published a new Statement of Intent, outlining their joint goals in ensuring sustainable and co-ordinated management of the seabed. This will enable marine development, support the leasing and licensing of UK carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) developments and projects, and help meet carbon storage targets, while considering other energy sectors, marine industries, sea users, and the natural environment.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) invites interested parties to apply for Carbon Dioxide Appraisal and Storage Licences (CS Licences) under Chapter 3 of the Energy Act 2008. CS Licences grant exclusive rights for the exploration and appraisal of potential storage sites, and for the storage, if a storage permit is granted, of carbon dioxide and for installations for those purposes. Applicants wishing to apply for CS licences are advised to notify the NSTA by 14 May 2024 and submit their application before 5 June 2024.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has awarded the UK's first carbon storage licence to the Northern Endurance Partnership for its Endurance site located off the Teesside coast. This licence will enable carbon dioxide injection to commence in 2027, with an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes and a total storage potential of 100 million tonnes over 25 years. Alongside this, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has issued an economic licence to Net Zero North Sea Storage Limited, a joint venture between bp, Equinor, and TotalEnergies.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has imposed a collective fine of £16.5 million on North Sea licensee EnQuest Heather Limited for protracted non-compliance in failing to decommission 33 inactive wells across four licences covering the Alma, Galia, Broom and Dons fields. The penalty comprises £500,000 for each breach of decommissioning obligations. The wells have been awaiting decommissioning since the fields ceased production between summer 2020 and spring 2021. The enforcement action follows extensive engagement with the company and an NSTA investigation, which found that EnQuest Heather deliberately deferred the costs of meeting its plugging and abandonment obligations, including by requesting deadline extensions that were subsequently missed.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched a consultation seeking views on proposals to introduce new fees and amend existing ones for its services. In accordance with HM Treasury’s ‘Managing Public Money’ (MPM) principles, the NSTA recovers service costs, where possible, through direct fees charged to service users, ensuring only those who benefit from a service bear its costs. Fees are calculated to cover the full cost of providing services, and the NSTA is not permitted to generate any profit, in line with Chapter 6 of MPM. The consultation closes on 12 August 2025.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched a consultation on the publication of company specific information. The NSTA seeks views on its proposed approach and the type of information it intends to publish, in respect of those that it regulates. The key proposals, among others, include the publication of operator names earlier in the sanctions processes and a new decommissioning league table. This consultation is part of the NSTA’s ongoing drive to further enhance transparency, which has seen the publication of venting and flaring data, as well as the publication of asset names on the NSTA's emissions intensity dashboards. The consultation closes on 31 October 2024.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched investigations into the alleged failures of operators to meet deadlines for the abandonment and plugging of wells. The NSTA states that operators are legally required to decommission their platforms, pipelines, and wells, and that delays in decommissioning can increase costs and result in platforms continuing to use power and release emissions, even after they have stopped producing oil and gas.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched the UK’s second carbon storage licensing round, opening 14 locations in Scottish and English waters for exploration and appraisal to expand future carbon dioxide (CO2) storage capacity, following consultation with The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland, which will issue the required seabed agreements for successful applicants. The areas offered comprise depleted hydrocarbon fields selected by the NSTA and saline aquifer sites identified through its call for nominations, with the potential to provide up to two gigatonnes of additional CO2 storage capacity. The NSTA highlights alignment with seabed management processes and ongoing collaboration with both Crown Estate bodies to streamline licensing and leasing, noting that CCS—used to transport and store captured CO2 emissions offshore in geological formations—remains essential to meeting net zero, with momentum already established through the first licensing round in 2023 and subsequent storage permits for the Endurance and HyNet projects. Applications for the licensing round close on 24 March 2026, with licences expected to be awarded in early 2027.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has launched a consultation proposing regulations for the disclosure of carbon storage information and samples. The NSTA is now seeking views on how long carbon storage information and samples may be disclosed. The consultation will close on 12 April 2024.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has published its 2024 Emissions Monitoring Report, indicating a 28% reduction in production emissions from the UK's upstream oil and gas industry between 2018 and 2023. Half of the reductions between 2018 and 2023 were achieved through active emissions reduction measures. However, despite this decrease, emissions intensity – greenhouse gases emitted for every barrel produced – is expected to have increased due to a decline in production.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has published its 2024 Reserves and Resources report, estimating the UK’s proven and probable oil and gas reserves at 2.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) as at the end of 2024.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has published its 2024 United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) Decommissioning Benchmarking Report, providing insight into the UKCS’ decommissioning performance. The benchmarks were developed with input from industry and includes the cost and duration of well plug and abandonment. The report aims to assist operators in improving their decommissioning project planning, execution, and cost-efficiency.