Oil and Gas Authority (Carbon Storage and Offshore Petroleum) (Specified Periods for Disclosure of Protected Material) Regulations 2026

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Oil and Gas Authority (Carbon Storage and Offshore Petroleum) (Specified Periods for Disclosure of Protected Material) Regulations 2026.

My Lords, these technical regulations were laid before the

As set out in the Energy Act 2023, carbon storage licensees are responsible for complying with various obligations, including the reporting of information and samples obtained through the conduct of licensee authorities to the NSTA. We believe that the wealth of data that carbon storage licensees gather during exploration or storage activities is a national resource and its publication will accelerate the deployment of CCS in the UK. That is why we introduced the Oil and Gas Authority (Carbon Storage) (Retention of Information and Samples) Regulations 2025, which came into force in May 2025. These regulations specify the types of information and samples that carbon storage licensees must retain and the periods for which they must retain them.

The regulations we debate today set out when the NSTA can publicly disclose carbon storage information and samples provided to it by carbon storage licensees, and which types of information and samples may be disclosed. They also amend when the NSTA can publicly disclose information on the drilling or operation of wells under offshore petroleum licences. The timeframe for this was set out in the Oil and Gas Authority (Offshore Petroleum) (Disclosure of Protected Material after Specified Periods) Regulations 2018—try saying that in one breath—and this amendment to the 2018 regulations will bring the NSTA disclosure powers across CCUS and offshore petroleum into alignment.

Information and samples play a very significant role in the UK carbon dioxide storage industry, and access to high-quality data for the NSTA, industry, academia and the public will enable efficient use of the UK’s storage potential. The carbon storage information and samples published will support sharing of knowledge and lessons learned, including best practices and innovation, ultimately leading to cost reductions and advancement of the sector. This includes accelerating the North Sea energy transition. The NSTA helps drive this transition by realising the significant potential of the UK continental shelf as a critical energy and carbon-abatement resource. These regulations will further provide opportunities for the industries based offshore, with the very significant potential that exists for storing carbon dioxide in depleted oil and gas fields and other geological formations in the UK continental shelf.

My Lords, I very much welcome the regulations and totally agree with my noble friend about the importance of CCUS to meeting our net-zero targets. Only a few weeks ago, the Whitehead review made the same point about GGRs: you cannot achieve net zero without this. I look forward to my noble friend responding to the Whitehead review and no doubt accepting all its recommendations.

These regulations seem to fall within what the review said about regulation. Certainly, I very much agree that this is an important element for market investment and certainty. Paragraph 5.4 of the Explanatory Memorandum says that the UK continental shelf holds

“an estimated 78 billion tonnes of theoretical CO₂ storage capacity”.

Clearly, there is huge potential for the UK. The Explanatory Memorandum mentions that, potentially, there are many countries that we could reach agreement with for storage in the UK continental shelf. So, can my noble friend tell the Committee the extent to which we are now in discussion with some of our European neighbours about the huge potential of storage in the North Sea?

My Lords, we welcome these regulations, which seek to establish a necessary legal framework for the public disclosure of protected carbon storage information and samples. These are crucial steps towards fostering a transparent culture in the UK’s nascent carbon capture, usage and storage—CCUS—industry. As has been said by others, CCUS is essential for the UK to meet its net-zero carbon targets and budgets—particularly as set out by the Climate Change Committee—and the sector is projected to support up to 50,000 jobs and significant future economic growth. As has also been pointed out, the UK’s continental shelf is estimated to hold up to 78 billion tonnes of theoretical CO₂ storage capacity, so this is essential in helping us meet these targets and creating the green jobs and growth of the future.

We support the principles of transparency set out in Parts 2 to 4 of the regulations, which govern the storage data obtained by the OGA, operating as the North Sea Transition Authority—the NSTA. We welcome the approach, as set out, of clarifying data based on levels of commercial sensitivity; this is sensible and pragmatic. We also welcome the decision that non-commercially sensitive items will be published straightaway. For more sensitive material, the NSTA has established clear and time-limited protection periods before disclosure. For example, detailed well information, protected carbon storage samples and computerised model information may generally be disclosed, but only after a period of two years. These two years are designed to protect licensees with sufficient exclusivity for the data they have paid to acquire.

On the regulations that relate specifically to the two-year period for the disclosure of computerised model information—relating specifically to the creation of CO₂ storage models that stimulate flows of fluids in storage complexes—the NSTA has acknowledged the need for further detailed consultation. Does the Minister know when those further consultations might be completed?

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing these regulations. As has been explained, these are technical measures designed to update the periods during which information relating to carbon storage licences and offshore petroleum wells remain confidential, and to ensure a more consistent and timely approach to public disclosure. We recognise the intention behind the instrument: improving the flow of information, supporting effective regulation and giving industry greater clarity and certainty.

We on these Benches recognise the importance of transparency, accuracy and timely publication of data in the offshore sector. Carbon capture and storage will continue to play an important role in meeting the UK’s future energy needs, and the North Sea will remain central to that effort for years to come. It is therefore right that the regulatory framework keeps pace with technological and operational developments and that that information is accessible and consistent across the sector.

However, although these regulations are narrow in scope, they sit against a wider backdrop of serious uncertainty across the oil and gas industry: uncertainty for investment, jobs and energy security. Industry has repeatedly raised concerns about the UK’s investment environment, the cumulative effect of fiscal and regulatory decisions, and the risk that capital and skilled workers will drift to more competitive jurisdictions. At the same time, the Government’s plans for carbon capture and storage rely heavily on significant private investment. That investment will not come forward without long-term confidence and a stable framework—which industry leaders are warning is increasingly at risk.

Given that context, it is reasonable to ask the Government how these regulations fit within a credible and coherent plan for the offshore sector. First, can the Minister set out how the Government intend to restore and support investor confidence in carbon capture and storage? As an aside, it was deeply disappointing to read in the weekend press that Drax is scaling back its ambitions for CCUS. It has halved its financial commitment and workforce, meaning the loss of 100 jobs in both the main group and its Elimini carbon capture business in the US.

Secondly, will the Government provide greater clarity on the long-term fiscal and regulatory framework for the North Sea so as to avoid the piecemeal approach that risks undermining both jobs and future low-carbon deployment? Finally, have the Government assessed the impact of their current policy environment on the skilled workforce required not only for oil and gas but for offshore wind, CCUS and hydrogen—sectors that depend on the same specialist expertise?

These regulations are a sensible step, but the broader issues cannot be ignored. If the UK is to deliver a secure, affordable and decarbonised energy system, the offshore sector needs stability, clarity and a long-term strategic direction. On the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, I too would be interested in hearing about the status of any conversations with nations bordering the continental shelf. In summary, we support the intent of this instrument, and we urge the Government to set it within a clearer, more stable plan for the future of the North Sea.

I thank noble Lords for their valuable contributions to this debate. I will briefly try to address some of the important points made. First, perhaps I ought to knock on the head the possible suggestion from my noble friend Lord Hunt that I will be marking my own homework when it comes to the review I undertook a little while ago of greenhouse gas removals. I can assure him that others in the department will be doing that, not me. Although I hope that they will take on board the things that are in the review, it is entirely up to them and not me to do so. But I reflect that that report, among other things, was very positive about the role that CCUS can play, particularly in developing our net-negative approach to net zero over the next period.

As the noble Lord mentioned, we ought to think for a moment about what an enormous asset we have in the North Sea as far as CCUS is concerned. An estimated 78 billion tonnes of theoretical CO₂ storage capacity is distributed across the UK continental shelf, and that is one of the largest, if not the largest, potential CO₂ storage capacity in Europe. Therefore, the UK has the opportunity to offer cross-border CO₂ transport and storage services to neighbouring countries. We very much welcome interest from EU and EEA countries, and we are committed to exploring opportunities to overcome the regulatory barriers to cross-border CO₂ transport and storage networks alongside neighbouring countries with common interests. Noble Lords will know what progress the Norwegians have been making in this area, so there is no time to lose with making this work as well as it can.

I thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for his questions. I appreciate the detail in his questions. In the interest of accuracy, I think it is best that I write to him, particularly in terms of the NSTA consultation. He will know that NSTA has already consulted very substantially on a number of these aspects, but it is true that some consultations are continuing. I cannot give the exact dates by which they will be concluded, but I am sure he will get a satisfactory answer when I send him a letter to that effect.

Motion agreed.