The UK’s North Sea oil and gas regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), has increased its investment and production forecasts for the coming years after 2024 figures exceeded expectations.
The NSTA reported that capital expenditure (capex) reached £5.95bn ($7.7bn) last year, significantly surpassing an earlier projection, reported Bloomberg.
Although this year’s investments are expected to decrease to £4.8bn, they remain well above previous forecasts following the Labour Government’s tax increase on the industry.
Companies have expressed concerns over high taxes and policy uncertainties, prompting some to consider projects elsewhere, the report said.
Oil and gas investments in the UK North Sea are being closely monitored as the government consults on the basin’s future. The NSTA’s revised forecasts are based on updated industry data.
Offshore Energies UK, an industry lobby group, noted that last year’s surge in upstream investment resulted from significant oil and gas developments advancing over recent years.
The NSTA also slightly increased its estimates for the UK’s oil and gas output, with producers pumping 1.09 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe) per day last year, 20,000 barrels more than forecast in October.
In a related development, a Scottish court recently overturned the UK Government’s approvals for two North Sea oil and gas projects, requiring a fresh review.
The court of session in Edinburgh ruled that the approvals for Shell and Equinor’s projects were unlawful due to the failure to consider downstream emissions from the extracted oil and gas.
In December 2024, Equinor Energy announced a new oil and gas discovery at the Ringland prospect in the North Sea, within production licences PL 923/923B.
Located approximately 17km west of the Troll field in water depths of 304m, preliminary estimates suggest the discovery could hold reserves of between 2mboe and 12mboe.
