The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry today said the High Court’s ruling that the Oil and Gas Authority’s assessments on new fields were not unlawful was important for both the UK’s energy security and net zero ambitions.
OGUK, the leading representative body for the offshore oil and gas sector, highlighted the current gas and oil price and supply issue as underlining why domestic production was so critical to mitigating global threats to the UK’s energy security as much as possible.
It also pointed to yesterday’s Scotwind announcement, where many traditional oil and gas companies had wind energy projects confirmed, as an example of how the offshore sector is developing the diverse low carbon energy mix the country needs to achieve its Paris Agreement climate goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
OGUK Chief Executive, Deirdre Michie, said: “We hope this decision strengthens investment confidence in the UK basin at a time when we need to prioritise domestic energy production while delivering a lower carbon energy future.
“The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry is changing. Our companies are adapting their 50 years of energy expertise to accelerate crucial green technologies like hydrogen, carbon capture and wind. This week a great number of traditional oil and gas companies got the go ahead to roll out more wind energy generation as a result of the Scotwind leasing announcement.
“We will continue to improve and scale up those greener solutions. However we cannot switch over night, so it is vital we can continue produce the oil and gas that is needed to avoid the lights going as we make the transition to that diverse mix of lower carbon energies that will help get us to net zero.”
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