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

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Grand Committee

[The Minister of State, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Lord Whitehead) (Lab)]

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.

The NSTA has consulted on both the carbon storage and offshore petroleum aspects of these regulations. The consultation on the amendment of well data confidentiality closed in September 2022 and a response was published in February 2023. The consultation on the proposed regulations for the disclosure of carbon storage information and samples closed in April 2024. That consultation will ensure that the regulations are effectively introduced. A response was published in October 2025. This means that the feedback received from those consultations was positive and has been carefully considered in shaping these regulations to ensure that they reflect industry needs and best practice.

CCS is not optional; it is essential for Britain’s energy security and industrial competitiveness, and for our clean-power future. These regulations may be technical, but their impact is profound. They unlock a wealth of data that will accelerate deployment, drive innovation and maximise the UK’s carbon storage potential. This is about making Britain a clean energy superpower, safeguarding jobs, securing investment and delivering net zero in a way that strengthens our economy. I urge the Committee to approve these regulations without delay.

The regulations reflect extensive consultation and positive engagement with industry and stakeholders. They are practical, robust and future-focused, designed to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of clean energy technology. This is about more than disclosure; it is about delivering on our net-zero commitments, safeguarding energy security and creating opportunities for growth and jobs in the industries of tomorrow. I beg to move.

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab)]

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?

[Earl Russell (LD)]

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?

Other data is classified as highly sensitive, particularly in relation to storage resource information, quality of CO₂ that could be stored and substrate geology—that kind of thing. I note that the NSTA provides the ability, but not the obligation, to disclose protected material, so licensees will have an opportunity to make representations concerning the delay or withholding of disclosure. That protective mechanism is important, and I recognise the need for it in the regulations, but I simply ask the Minister: what is the minimum timeframe for representations that the NSTA will guarantee to licensees before commercially sensitive protected material is disclosed?

We generally welcome these regulations and think that they are crucial for the development of this sector. This instrument is crucial for safety and for ensuring that there is a balance between the sharing of information and protecting what is commercially sensitive. We feel that, in general, the balance is in the right place here. We support these regulations as they will help underpin the successful, transparent and efficient development of the UK’s potential CCUS industry. But we urge the Government to address these essential questions of implementation, technical definition and scope, in order to ensure that the regulations achieve their full potential.