MARCH 27, 2024By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
We might just as well shut down the North Sea now:
North Sea energy companies could be forced to close oil and gas fields or be prevented from opening new rigs unless they slash emissions.
Currently, more than 280 platforms extracting oil and gas from UK waters produce 3pc of the country’s total emissions, the equivalent of about 17 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
However, UK oil and gas fields also account for half of the country’s energy needs.
Despite this, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates the offshore sector, has told producers that they must convert platforms to run on green electricity or low-carbon fuels.
This means all new developments before 2030 must be designed to run on electricity, while all those after that must be fully electrified from the start.
Critics say the new demands will deliver a fatal blow to many of the older platforms operating around British shores.
Some date back to the 1970s or 1980s and would be hugely expensive to decarbonise.
For many, it would mean running power cables from the shore or building a wind farm close to each platform.
Stuart Payne, NSTA chief executive, said closing some low-producing, high-polluting installations earlier could be necessary to allow higher-producing and cleaner new assets to come online.
He said: “Energy production, reducing emissions and accelerating the energy transition are at the heart of everything we do.”
As always the Telegraph commentators are spot on:
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