North Sea Deal Provides Pathway for Other Nations

The North Sea Transition Deal provides a documented pathway for other oil and gas producing nations.

That’s according to EY’s head of Energy, Rob Doepel, who welcomed the announcement of the North Sea Transition Deal by the UK government on Wednesday.

“The North Sea Transition Deal – the first by a G7 country – sets out ambitious plans to help reach a net zero UK and repositions our oil and gas capabilities to serve the global energy industry,” Doepel said in a statement sent to Rigzone.

“The North Sea Transition Deal provides a documented pathway for other oil and gas producing nations, as well as other industries and countries yet to start this journey – creating best practice that can be applied across the UK and globally,” he added.

“While ‘energy transition’ is now largely accepted as an opportunity to expand addressable markets, capture growth, and redefine investor perceptions, the North Sea Transition Deal marks an important step in turning that mindset into a technical, on-the-ground reality - the creation of a pathway for the traditional UK oil and gas skill base, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit to be pivoted to green energy,” the EY representative continued.

In the statement, Doepel noted that EY’s latest figures show that diversification is not just inevitable for upstream operators and contractors, but the need is likely to have been accelerated by the pandemic.

EY was asked by industry body Oil & Gas UK (OGUK) to support the North Sea Transition Deal project, Doepel confirmed, highlighting that the team’s knowledge of both industry and government practices helped drive a route forward to reach a final deal for the UK.

“EY’s long-standing expertise and relationship with the oil and gas sector helped position the industry to contribute to the UK net zero ambition and accelerate the process of turning ambitions of decarbonization into action,” Doepel said.

The North Sea Transition Deal outlines over 50 government and industry actions to accelerate moves towards the government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050, OGUK outlined, adding that it will support the creation of up to 40,000 new energy jobs in industrial heartlands across the UK.

The deal was agreed between Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on behalf of the UK government and OGUK Chief Executive Deirdre Michie on behalf of the industry. OGUK highlighted that it comes after the sector published Roadmap 2035: a blueprint for net zero, in 2019, which was one of the first industry responses to the government’s climate change commitments.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com