The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry’s production emissions were down by 7% in 2024, a fifth consecutive year of reductions.
The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry’s production emissions were down by 7% in 2024, a fifth consecutive year of reductions.
This contributed to a 34% drop since 2018, according to the Emissions Monitoring Report from the UK North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA). Flaring activity, which is the second largest source of production emissions, dropped 4.8% in 2024 to the lowest level on record, and was 51% lower than in 2018.
However, the report also shows projected reductions are lagging behind ambitions in the longer term unless there is ‘significant new action’. ‘The target of halving emissions by 2030, agreed by industry and government in the North Sea Transition Deal, is now well within reach,’ said the NSTA in a statement. ‘However, without serious investment in large-scale active emissions abatement projects, industry will not meet the 2040 target of lowering emissions by 90% or achieve net zero by 2050.’
About half of the offshore emissions reductions achieved between 2018 and 2024 were from online assets, says the report. Since early 2021, NSTA interventions have contributed to preventing the emission of 4.5 million tonnes of lifetime carbon dioxide equivalent, the same as taking 2.5 million cars off the road for a year.
During that period, operators have invested in flaring reduction equipment and improved the efficiency of existing kit, such as gas export compressors and power generation turbines. Onshore gas compression for the Breagh field has been electrically driven since October 2024. Furthermore, multiple normally unattended platforms now have low-carbon power supplies, for example, small wind turbines, solar panels and batteries, said the report.
The OGA Plan, launched in 2024, sets out clear requirements for operators on electrification and low-carbon power as power generation accounts for 80% of the current total.
Work is ongoing to integrate a floating offshore wind turbine to partially power the Culzean platform, while the planned Green Volt floating wind farm has secured price guarantees from the government and could power several large oil and gas platforms.
‘It is vital that more electrification and low-carbon power projects reach final investment decisions in the near-term,’ said the report. ‘Unnecessary delays will diminish the case for electrification by reducing the volume of emissions which could be prevented.’
Projects are contributing towards the UK’s target to achieve zero routine flaring and venting by the end of 2030. A flare gas recovery unit was recently activated on the Mariner platform and similar systems will be activated on the Clair and Elgin-Franklin installations. More such projects are in early planning. The regulator has also cracked down on flaring and venting breaches, imposing fines totalling £975,000 since the beginning of 2021.
