The NSTA regulates the licensing of exploration and development of England’s onshore oil and gas resources, and it has strict controls in place to ensure that operators manage the risk of induced seismicity from such operations.
The NSTA issues well consents, development programme approvals, completion of work programme approvals and production consents.
The NSTA has published two key documents: the NSTA Guidance on the Onshore Regulatory Regime and the NSTA Onshore Decision-Making Framework. For full transparency, the two documents can be found below.
- The NSTA Guidance on the Onshore Regulatory Regime, which consolidates previously available guidance, sets out how the NSTA will normally consider stated matters and is not a substitute for any regulation or law and is not legal advice; and,
- The NSTA Onshore Decision-Making Framework is a consolidation of the methods the NSTA has been working with to take decisions on onshore matters and placed within the context of our statutory obligations set out in the Energy Act. This is internal guidance for NSTA staff.
