Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provisions of the Marine Policy Statement 2011 in the context of achieving his Department’s policy on new oil and gas licencing.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In March, the Government consulted on its commitment not to issue new licences to explore new fields.
The Marine Policy Statement was published in 2011 under a previous government. It includes support for oil and gas exploration.
Subject to the outcome of the consultation, this aspect of the Statement is unlikely to carry any practical effect in future.
Updating the Statement would be resource intensive for all governments involved. Instead, the Government is taking a more strategic approach to marine spatial planning, developing colocation solutions and working with the Marine Management Organisation on the replacement of the East Marine Plan.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to bring forward primary legislation to ban new oil and gas licences.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has committed to not issue new licences to explore new fields while managing existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.
On 1 October, the Secretary of State announced legislation to end new onshore oil and gas licensing in England.
Our ‘Building the North Sea’s energy future’ consultation, which closed earlier this year, sought views on how we should implement these commitments. We will respond in due course.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change draft rules on the attribution of emissions reductions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to the country of origin on UK subsidies for BECCS.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
All UK greenhouse gas emissions are compiled and reported consistent with international guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide a methodology for the reporting of emissions from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) that the UK will follow when the technology is operating at sufficient scale. In line with all IPCC reports, the 2006 Guidelines were written by world-leading experts, underwent multiple rounds of review from other experts and Governments and were formally accepted by Governments including the UK.
Asked by: Barry Gardiner (Labour - Brent West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to paragraph 22 of the fifth Special Report of the Energy and Climate Change Committee of Session 2010-11 entitled UK Deepwater Drilling: Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Government Response to the Committee's Second Report of Session 2010–11, HC 882, published on 22 March 2011, what recent progress the Government has made on ensuring that oil spill response equipment is designed to take full account of the harsh environment in the West of Shetland.
Answered by Justin Tomlinson
The response to pollution incidents from offshore hydrocarbon operations is led by Industry and their primary response contractor Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL). Since the report was published, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) cap was developed and been in service since 2011. OSRL have also developed additional higher rated capping devices which have been in service since 2013. OSRL have also extended their response capability to include a base in the Shetland Islands to respond promptly to incidents West of Shetland. This base contains response equipment which has been specially selected for West of Shetland conditions.