NSTA Chief Executive Stuart Payne delivered a keynote speech titled, “Turning ambition into reality in the North Sea”, at the Innovation Zero conference in London on 29 April 2025. Stuart highlighted the permits we issued for the UK’s first two carbon storage projects and discussed the role of CCS in helping oil and gas workers transfer their skills to clean-energy jobs, supporting communities and anchoring the offshore supply chain in the UK. Read the full speech below:
Good morning. I’m Stuart Payne, the chief executive of the North Sea Transition Authority.
I’d like to thank the organisers of Innovation Zero for the opportunity to speak to you today.
Thanks also to session sponsors Powerful Women and the Carbon Capture and Storage Association.
The NSTA may not be a household name, but we’re a real example of an organisation that is living, and delivering, the energy transition.
I want to speak today about the journey we’ve been on, the journey the North Sea is on, including some recent exciting developments – and most importantly the people we need to make the transition happen.
The NSTA was created ten years ago as the Oil and Gas Authority to regulate oil and gas, primarily in the North Sea. But a decade is a long time in energy.
Since then we’ve changed our organisation to put net zero at the core of our strategy, and our role is now much broader.
Today we have three main aims: to accelerate the North Sea’s transition, help the UK produce the energy it still needs, and ensure the production of that energy is as clean as possible.
As well as oil and gas we now regulate and license the offshore hydrogen and carbon storage industries – that’s the day job.
When companies from these sectors want to develop a project or operate vital infrastructure, they need to satisfy us that they are the right people with the right plans.
And that means many of the roles that our people undertake have changed too.
Geologists and engineers who joined us as oil and gas specialists now spend their time analysing carbon storage projects.
Our market experts who link up supply chain companies with big operators are now making those links with wind developers.
And our technology team are turning their understanding of molecules to exploring how offshore hydrogen storage could unlock the full potential of offshore wind.
This isn’t just talk but real action.
In the last five months we have awarded permits for two carbon storage projects that will see over 200 million tonnes of industrial CO2 emissions locked away under the seabed forever.
That’s the equivalent of taking 110 million cars off the road for a year.
In doing so, we helped turned a long-held ambition into a reality.
We are the energy transition in action. What we do matters, even if you’ve never heard of us.
The North Sea’s history has been in oil and gas, helping power, heat and move the UK. Even today fossil fuels still meet three quarters of our energy demand.
Demand for those molecules must and will shrink, but, as the Government has made clear, they will be part of the picture for decades to come.
The Government is currently consulting on their vision for the future of the North Sea.
The consultation covers many things including licensing, skills and the workforce. But at its core is a recognition of the importance of managing the transition from oil and gas.
If we get it right, the North Sea can have a prosperous future which creates and safeguards employment and generates multibillion pound investments in all offshore energy projects.
If we get it wrong, and we risk losing the vital support of the public and of investors, and risk missing out on opportunities for growth, jobs and energy security.
If we still need oil and gas from the North Sea, we think the industry should do its part in reducing its own emissions.
This includes eliminating routine flaring and venting and taking sustained action to drive down all production emissions.
These emissions matter as they represent 3% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas footprint. That’s treble the emissions of a city the size of Birmingham.
Progress is being made but if the industry is to hit its targets it must go further.
To accelerate action, last year we launched a new emissions reduction plan.
It gives operators certainty of what’s required of them.
But also makes it clear they shouldn’t expect consents for more oil and gas if they don’t also plan to reduce emissions.
This is bold, it’s novel and it’s needed. And we will enforce it robustly.
Whilst the UK continues to produce oil and gas the way it is produced must become progressively cleaner.
But the future of the North Sea will be so much more than oil and gas.
Offshore wind, carbon storage, wave and tidal energy combine to demonstrate the astounding potential that the UK’s offshore has for making clean energy and decarbonising the economy.
Whilst this is great, it does mean though that the North Sea is becoming increasingly busy. There is a lot going on – and space is finite.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a great challenge to have. Other countries wish they had this challenge.
At the NSTA we believe integration is key – enabling different energy sectors to work together and to co-locate in UK waters.
There will be opportunities for real synergies by physically connecting different energy systems, including offshore wind, hydrogen and oil and gas.
This is already happening. There are windfarms in the East Irish and Southern North Sea where we literally have turbines operating above oil and gas fields.
And the Green Volt project will see innovative floating wind turbines powering both UK houses and oil and gas facilities, cutting those upstream emissions.
We know in addition to this co-location, there is a massive opportunity – and need – to, over time, transition the kit, the capability and the capital from the one industry into the new ones.
Nowhere is this more true than in CCS, a vital cog in the UK’s clean energy future.
It will require skilled workers from the oil and gas sector, further anchoring the offshore supply chain in the UK for a new generation.
We know that we need it.
In its latest advice to government, The Climate Change Committee described carbon storage as essential, adding there is no route to net zero without it.
It is a tried and tested technology. Carbon storage facilities have been operating across the world for decades.
The Sleipner field in the Norwegian North Sea has been used to store CO2 since 1996.
Each year it stores around one million tonnes, so it can be done.
And we are now witnessing carbon storage making waves on the UK side of the North Sea.
You may have read the headlines.
Alongside colleagues from DESNZ and Ofgem last week we gave the go-ahead to ENI for a major development called HyNet.
The project will store more than one hundred million tonnes of carbon dioxide in three depleted oil and gas reservoirs, 20 miles off the coast of Liverpool.
This will decarbonise large-scale industrial emitters in north-west England and northern Wales.
Our decision to issue the required permits followed exhaustive technical work and due diligence to ensure the plans are right.
Two thousand jobs will be created.
More than 90 miles of oil and gas pipelines will be repurposed and given a new lease of life – saving costs and saving carbon.
HyNet is not the only show in town, though.
In December, we awarded a permit to the Northern Endurance Partnership project to decarbonise the East Coast Cluster.
These are UK firsts – giving the green light to six billion pounds’ worth of supply chain contracts between them.
As a nation, we’ve talked about carbon storage for many years.
But we had never reached this milestone before.
These two projects will turbocharge the UK’s drive to unlock investment, jobs and economic growth and reach net zero emissions by 2050.
When I spoke earlier about turning ambition to reality – this is exactly what I meant.
If the North Sea of the future will see a diversity of energy systems, we need to match this with a diversity of people, skills and talent.
Diversity and inclusion are getting a rough ride in some quarters.
But not from me.
Ultimately diversity and inclusion make the most sense from a business perspective.
The transition is a massive opportunity but we all know there are big challenges to solve.
To do that, we’re going to need the whole team – our strongest lineup.
As a lifelong Liverpool fan, I’ve managed to get this far in without referencing the joyous events of the weekend where for the 20th time in our history, Liverpool were crowned league champions. I ask you indulge me in one football-based metaphor as a result.
We wouldn’t send our team out without Alisson or Kelleher, our great goalkeepers. Nor would we only pick our amazing attacking players like Salah, Diaz and Jota, and even though we love him – we know a game needs more than just Virgil in defence. You need the whole team.
And even Liverpool have had to work hard to retain the services of their stars this year, knowing even now that Trent Alexander Arnold could be tempted to sunnier shores that Merseyside. The energy industry, just like a football team, has to continue to work to attract and retain talent they need – and in our case the talent that this transition will need.
Energy has competition from home and abroad, and we have to make ourselves as attractive as possible to the brightest and best people.
Organisations such as Powerful Women (of which I’m proud to be a part) and are doing important work in this area, tackling underrepresentation of women at different levels in the energy sector.
However, we need everyone in this space to get involved and excite the next generation of talent.
This should not be a tall order. We have arrived at the most exciting moment there’s ever going to be for the UK’s energy industry.
As we’re seeing with carbon storage, tremendous opportunities are already opening up – ambitions are becoming reality.
We think the next chapter in the North Sea story can be the best chapter, across all energy sectors.
So whoever you are, seize the day and put yourself at the forefront of the UK’s exciting net zero future.
Thank you.
END
Please note - There may have been some slight variations in the delivery of this speech.