UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that a whole lot of recent oil and fuel licenses might be granted within the UK, the UK authorities revealed in a launch posted on its web site this week.
The federal government, which famous within the launch that it continues to again the North Sea oil and fuel business “as a part of drive to make Britain extra vitality unbiased”, highlighted that it and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) have been asserting a joint dedication to undertake future licensing rounds. These will proceed to be topic to a local weather compatibility take a look at, the federal government outlined.
The NSTA is presently working the thirty third offshore oil and fuel licensing spherical and expects the primary of the brand new licenses to be awarded within the autumn, the federal government launch identified, including that future licenses “might be crucial to offering vitality safety choices, unlocking carbon seize utilization, and storage and hydrogen alternatives”.
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Within the launch, the federal government mentioned it’s taking steps to sluggish the fast decline in home manufacturing of oil and fuel, which it acknowledged “will safe our home vitality provide and scale back reliance on hostile states”. The federal government famous within the launch that new oil and fuel licenses scale back the autumn in UK provide “so as to guarantee very important vitality safety, somewhat than improve it above present ranges, in order that the UK stays on monitor to satisfy web zero by 2050”.
“Now greater than ever, it’s very important that we bolster our vitality safety and capitalize on that independence to ship extra reasonably priced, clear vitality to British houses and companies,” Sunak mentioned in a authorities assertion.
“Even after we’ve reached web zero in 2050, 1 / 4 of our vitality wants will come from oil and fuel. However there are those that would somewhat that it come from hostile states than from the provides we’ve right here at house,” he added.
“We’re selecting to energy up Britain from Britain and spend money on essential industries reminiscent of carbon seize and storage, somewhat than rely upon extra carbon intensive fuel imports from abroad – which is able to help 1000’s of expert jobs, unlock additional alternatives for inexperienced applied sciences and develop the economic system,” Sunak continued.
Vitality Safety Secretary Grant Shapps mentioned, “within the wake of Putin’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, our vitality safety is extra vital than ever”.
“The North Sea is on the coronary heart of our plan to energy up Britain from Britain in order that tyrants like Putin can by no means once more use vitality as a weapon to blackmail us,” he added.
“[This] dedication to energy forward with new oil and fuel licenses will drive ahead our vitality independence and our economic system for generations. Defending crucial jobs in each area of the UK, safeguarding vitality payments for British households and offering a homegrown gas for our economic system that, for home fuel manufacturing, has round one-quarter the carbon footprint of imported liquified pure fuel,” Shapps went on to state.
When Rigzone requested business physique Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) for touch upon the UK authorities’s newest oil and fuel announcement, the group’s CEO, Dave Whitehouse, mentioned, “home manufacturing is one of the best pathway to web zero and the UK authorities’s dedication to licences is fine addition for vitality safety and jobs”.
“Oil and fuel fields decline naturally over time. The UK wants the churn of recent licences to handle manufacturing decline inline with the maturing basin,” he acknowledged.
“There are presently 283 lively oil and fuel fields within the North Sea, by 2030 round 180 of these may have ceased manufacturing on account of pure decline. If we don’t handle to switch maturing oil and fuel fields with new ones, the speed of manufacturing will decline a lot quicker than we are able to exchange them with low carbon alternate options,” Whitehouse added.
“Growing our new carbon seize business and its high-value jobs wants important funding from our vitality producing firms. Which means that the bedrock to success and delivering development within the economic system can solely be collaboration between personal and public capital. The UK’s expert offshore workforce, its engineering experience and its geology have given our nation a singular alternative to steer the manner in constructing a web zero world,” the OEUK CEO continued.
Clear Vitality
In its launch, the UK authorities acknowledged that the UK’s oil and fuel business is important to driving ahead and investing in clear applied sciences “that we have to understand our web zero goal, like carbon seize utilization and storage, by drawing from the sector’s current provide chains, experience and key abilities while defending jobs”.
The federal government additionally confirmed within the launch that tasks Acorn in North East Scotland and Viking within the Humber have been chosen because the third and fourth carbon seize utilization and storage clusters within the UK. It highlighted that it has already dedicated to deploy CCUS in two industrial clusters by the mid-2020s – the HyNet cluster in North West England and North Wales, and the East Coast Cluster within the Teesside and Humber.
“Collectively, these 4 clusters will construct a brand new thriving carbon seize utilization and storage business, which may help as much as 50,000 jobs within the UK by 2030,” the federal government mentioned within the launch.
“The UK has one of many largest potential carbon dioxide storage capacities in Europe, making the North Sea probably the most engaging enterprise environments for CCUS know-how,” it added.
“The federal government has dedicated to supply as much as GBP 20 billion [$25.7 billion] in funding for early deployment of CCUS, unlocking personal funding and job creation,” it continued.
On the identical day the federal government’s launch was printed, the NSTA posted a press release on its web site, during which it famous that North Sea fuel is considerably cleaner and helps the drive to web zero greenhouse fuel emissions way over imports, in keeping with evaluation printed by the group.
“The analysis reveals that domestically produced fuel is on common nearly 4 occasions cleaner than importing fuel in LNG kind,” the NSTA mentioned within the assertion.
“That is due to each the way in which the fuel is transferred and, in some instances, the strategies of extraction. Norway has the bottom carbon depth of all LNG imports at 33 kgCO2/boe, and Peru the best at 90, with the common coming to 79, whereas UK fuel has a carbon depth of solely 21 kgCO2/boe,” the NSTA added.
“The first causes for the stark distinction in emissions are the method of liquefaction, turning the fuel into liquid for transport, then transportation by way of transport, and eventually regasification, turning the liquid again into fuel so it may be used,” the NSTA continued.
The report reveals that round 63 p.c of UK fuel provide is imported into the nation – 187 million barrels of oil equal by way of pipeline and 156 million barrels of oil equal from LNG, the NSTA highlighted in its assertion.
The group famous within the assertion that the UK produced 38 p.c of its fuel provide final yr, “a complete of 206 million barrels of oil equal”.
“But that 38 p.c was chargeable for solely 24 p.c of complete emissions related to fuel provide, whereas LNG from america was chargeable for 35 p.c of the emissions, regardless of being solely 14 p.c of the provision,” the NSTA added.
Serving to to ship UK vitality safety and the drive to achieve web zero go hand in hand, the NSTA mentioned within the assertion.
“The evaluation reveals that domestically produced fuel creates considerably fewer emissions than common imports, and that persevering with to supply fuel within the UK as cleanly as doable will help within the drive to chop emissions,” the NSTA added.
In its assertion, the NSTA outlined that it’s presently assessing the 115 bids obtained for licenses within the thirty third oil and fuel licensing spherical.
“These new licenses will assist to make sure vitality safety and help the drive to chop emissions by lowering reliance on dirtier extra carbon intensive fuel imports,” the NSTA mentioned within the assertion.
“Nonetheless, it’s vital that emissions are tackled at house as properly, so the NSTA has already provided 21 carbon storage licenses from the UK’s first-ever Carbon Storage Licensing Spherical, websites which may retailer as much as 10 p.c of complete annual UK emissions,” it added.
The NSTA additionally famous within the assertion that it has labored with business to assist it reduce emissions from flaring and venting by 50 p.c previously 5 years and that it has printed steering that makes it clear that routine venting and flaring might be banned for all by 2030.
As well as, the NSTA acknowledged that it’s working with authorities and business to help platform electrification, “getting down to business our expectation that investments have to occur now”.
To contact the writer, electronic mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
