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Written Question
Refineries: Grangemouth
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has had discussions with Petroineos on the potential merits of Grangemouth oil refinery transitioning to biofuel.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State met with executives at Petroineos on 23 November 2023 to discuss options for the future of the site, long term fuel security for Scotland, and consideration of jobs at the site.

The Government remains committed to energy transition projects across the UK, backing the North Sea oil and gas sector and green industries such as offshore wind and carbon capture and storage, to attract investment and create opportunities for communities in Scotland. Measures like the Forth Green Freeport include the port at Grangemouth, which will enable multiple manufacturing and green initiatives.

Any potential decisions regarding future energy projects at the site are a private commercial matter.


Written Question
North Sea Transition Authority
Wednesday 6th December 2023

Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the North Sea Transition Authority for supporting the delivery of the UK’s climate targets.

Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The North Sea Transition Authority plays a crucial role in helping to achieve the Government's commitment to reach Net Zero emissions by 2050. Its Strategy reflects the ongoing energy transition and features a range of net zero obligations on the oil and gas industry, including stepping up efforts to reduce production emissions, supporting carbon capture and storage projects and unlocking clean hydrogen production.


Written Question
Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage: North Sea
Friday 15th September 2023

Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make it her policy to promote the North Sea as a location for carbon capture, usage and storage technology.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is a priority for this Government. The UK continental shelf, and particularly the North Sea, provides a unique geological opportunity for the UK to become a world leader in this sector. The recent announcements on Track 1 and Track 2 reaffirm Government commitment, and the North Sea Transition Authority has estimated that as many as 100 CO2 stores could be required to meet net zero.


Written Question
North Sea Transition Authority: Carbon Capture and Storage
Wednesday 7th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to amend the Energy Bill to give further powers to the North Sea Transition Authority in relation to carbon capture and storage.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government tabled amendments to the Energy Bill on 16 May 2023 to provide the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) with powers to require carbon storage licensees to retain and report information and samples gathered as part of activities associated with the geological storage of carbon dioxide. These powers will enable the NSTA to publicly disclose this information after a suitable confidentiality period. They will ensure valuable information collected by storage licensees is appropriately preserved and, in due course, made available for the benefit of the sector more broadly.


Written Question
Environment Protection: Technology
Monday 15th May 2023

Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide specific (a) educational opportunities and (b) training programmes to help the oil and gas workforce make the transition to work in green technologies.

Answered by Robert Halfon

The department has a range of existing skills and training offers that can support workers looking to transition between oil and gas, and other offshore energy sectors.

​Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks that give adults the opportunity to build sector-specific skills and access an interview. This can meet the needs of existing workers looking to upskill, as well as new entrants to a sector. Courses are available in energy skills, including offshore renewables and wind turbine blade repair.

​Apprenticeships are available in a range of occupational standards and can give employers and employees the skills they need to grow. The apprenticeships offer includes training in a huge range of disciplines, from logistics and project management to engineering and manufacturing. Flexibilities within apprenticeships include accelerated apprenticeships, which support those with existing industry experience to complete more quickly by recognising their prior leaning. This would suit people looking to move between sectors with transferable skills. Training is available for a range of engineering occupations crucial to the offshore energy sector including level 7 system integration engineer, level 3 plate welder, and level 4 asset manager.

In March 2021, The North Sea Transition Deal commited to supporting up to 40,000 direct and indirect supply chain jobs in decarbonising UK Continental Shelf jobs, and in Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) and Hydrogen. In May 2022, the government tasked offshore energy skills organisation, OPITO with developing an Integrated People and Skills Strategy. This work is complimented by the October 2021 Net Zero Strategy which commits the UK to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Green Jobs Delivery Group is also covering the oil and gas industry in its detailed work on workforce and skills. The Group will be publishing a Net Zero and Nature Workforce and Skills Action Plan in the first half of 2024.

​According to the Integrated People and Skills Strategy, there are approximately 118,400 workers in oil and gas, and 148,500 in offshore energy overall. The Strategy forecasts offshore energy sector jobs increasing to 350,000 by 2050. It estimates 90% of the existing UK oil and gas workforce has skills transferable to other offshore energy sectors. Additionally, it states over half of the oil and gas workforce would consider moving into renewable energy jobs, provided they were supported with the right training. The Strategy commits to developing transition pathways to support offshore energy workers open to moving between sectors. This includes integration with the Armed Forces Covenant.

​A digital skills passport is in development that allows people working in offshore energy to be occupationally competent across oil and gas, CCUS, Hydrogen, and offshore wind. According to the Green Jobs Taskforce report, published in July 2021, approximately 50%, or 100,000, of the UK’s offshore energy jobs by 2030 are predicted to be filled by workers transferring from oil and gas to offshore renewable roles, as well as new entrants from outside the sector. ​


Written Question
Offshore Industry: North Sea
Wednesday 29th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the impact of the decline in the size of the North Sea oil sector on the UK economy.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is committed to supporting the upstream oil and gas industry. It established the North Sea Transition Authority in recognition of the mature nature of the UK Continental Shelf.

The North Sea Transition Deal, agreed with industry, will support workers, businesses and the supply chain by harnessing industry’s existing capabilities to exploit emerging technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture usage and storage and offshore wind. It could support 40,000 jobs, generate investment, new business and trade.

The Government is also funding the Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone, supporting jobs and green growth.


Written Question
Carbon Capture and Storage
Wednesday 29th March 2023

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what environmental monitoring will form part of future carbon capture and storage projects beneath the seabed.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Upon receiving an application for a carbon dioxide storage permit, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is required by law to ensure (amongst other requirements) that the storage complex and surrounding area have been sufficiently characterised and assessed to ensure there is no significant risk of leakage, or of harm to the environment or human health. As part of the storage permit application, the operator will be required to set out a monitoring plan to demonstrate conformance and containment, detection, and measurement of a significant irregularity or leakage event.


Written Question
Environment Protection: Training
Tuesday 14th March 2023

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that opportunities for retraining in green skills are available to workers currently employed in the oil and gas sector.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The North Sea Transition Deal, published in March 2021, commits to supporting up to 40,000 jobs, including decarbonising UK Continental Shelf jobs and across the Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) and Hydrogen sectors. Government charged the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation with developing an Integrated People and Skills Strategy for this transition, which was published in May 2022. The Strategy commits the UK to a just transition to net zero by 2050.

There are approximately 118,400 direct and indirect workers in oil and gas, and 148,500 in the wider offshore energy sector. The number of offshore energy sector jobs is expected to increase to 350,000 by 2050. The Strategy estimates 90% of the existing UK oil and gas workforce has skills transferable to other offshore energy sectors. The Strategy commits to developing transition pathways to support offshore energy workers open to moving between sectors. This includes integration with the Armed Forces Covenant.

A digital skills passport is in development that allows people working in offshore energy to be occupationally competent across oil and gas, CCUS, Hydrogen, and offshore wind. According to the Green Jobs Taskforce report, published in July 2021, approximately 50%, or 100,000, of the UK’s offshore energy jobs by 2030 are predicted to be filled by workers transferring from oil and gas to offshore renewable roles, as well as new entrants from outside the sector. A 2020 survey of the oil and gas workforce indicated over half were interested in moving to renewable energy jobs, provided they were supported with the right training.

The UK Offshore Operators Association (OEUK), an offshore energy industry body, committed to developing a greater understanding of the offshore energy sector’s demographics in the North Sea Transition Deal’s one-year progress report. OEUK will publish guides on inclusivity, flexible and transparent recruitment, and promotion pathways. They will encourage reporting on ethnicity pay gaps in 2023. The diversity workstream will later go on to examine inclusion factors such as neurodiversity and social mobility.

The Department has a range of skills and training offers that can support workers looking to transition between oil and gas, and other offshore energy sectors.

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks that give people the opportunity to build sector-specific skills and access to an interview with an employer. Courses are currently available in energy skills such as offshore renewables, and offshore wind safety training.

Apprenticeships are available in a range of occupational standards and can give employers and employees the skills they need to grow. The apprenticeships offer includes training in a huge range of disciplines, from logistics and project management to engineering and manufacturing. Flexibilities within apprenticeships include accelerated apprenticeships, which support those with existing industry experience to complete more quickly by recognising their prior leaning.


Written Question
Public Expenditure: Fossil Fuels
Thursday 1st December 2022

Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy not to use public money to fund any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The government is fully committed to green growth and net zero by 2050, including speeding up the deployment of clean and renewable technologies such as nuclear, hydrogen, solar, carbon capture and storage and wind – where the UK is already a world leader in offshore generation. The UK’s omissions have also fallen by over 44% between 1990 and 2019. However, oil and gas are not incompatible with this, as the UK will need these fuels for decades to come to support our energy security through the transition to clean energy.

The government places additional taxes on the extraction of oil and gas, with companies engaged in the production of oil and gas in the UK and on the UK Continental Shelf subject to a combined headline tax rate on their profits of 40%. The Energy Profits Levy was introduced in May as a temporary 25% tax on top of this (the rate will rise to 35% from 1 January 2023). The Energy Profits Levy will end on 31 March 2028.

The government has always sought to balance delivering a fair return for the UK from the use of its resources while providing the right conditions to attract investment in the North Sea that is key to support domestic jobs and the nation’s energy security. That is why companies investing in new or existing projects can claim a deduction against their taxable profits taking into account the cost of their investments. The UK will receive tax revenues from these investments as and when they generate a profit.


Written Question
Carbon Capture and Storage: Pilot Schemes
Wednesday 23rd November 2022

Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to The University of Manchester’s report Capturing the Carbon Opportunity, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a nationwide pilot programme to (a) identify additional Carbon Capture and Storage sites and (b) help increase the UK’s skills and infrastructure in relation to sub-surface storage.

Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government recognises that having sufficient carbon dioxide storage sites is essential to meeting Its net zero ambitions with carbon capture and storage. That is why, the North Sea Transition Authority recently launched the UK’s first-ever carbon storage licensing round with 13 potential areas available.[1]

Skills are at the core of the North Sea Transition Deal, which includes a commitment to facilitate the reskilling of existing parts of the oil and gas workforce to ensure that people and skills are transferable across the wider energy sector, including in relation to sub-surface storage.

[1] https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/news-publications/news/2022/bids-invited-in-uk-s-first-ever-carbon-storage-licensing-round/