NSTA Announces New Chair

NSTA Announces New Chair
The new Chair will head the NSTA board, which is responsible for regulating and influencing the UK's oil, gas, offshore hydrogen, and carbon storage industries, the NSTA said.
Image by curraheeshutter via iStock

In a statement posted on its website recently, the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) announced Liz Ditchburn as its new Chair.

The new Chair will head the NSTA board, which is responsible for regulating and influencing the UK’s oil, gas, offshore hydrogen, and carbon storage industries, the NSTA said in the statement, which highlighted that Ditchburn will start her role on October 22. Ditchburn will take over from Tim Eggar.

“Liz is an experienced public policy leader who is currently on the board of the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen, where she is also the Audit Committee Chair,” the NSTA said in its statement.

“She has worked at a senior level for both the Scottish and UK governments. Most recently, she was Director General for Economy for the Scottish Government, leading on all aspects of the economy and the drive towards net zero in Scotland,” it added.

“Previously, she was Policy Director at the Department for International Development (now part of FCDO),” it continued.

In the NSTA statement, Ditchburn said, “the NSTA is engaged in one of the most important transitions in the UK as we all come to terms with what a net zero world requires”.

“The prize if we get this transition right is huge but the stakes for communities and individuals if we don’t are high,” Ditchburn added.

NSTA Chief Executive Stuart Payne said in the statement, “we have said farewell to Tim who has led the board for the past five years and has been a strong leader, advisor and supporter to both Andy Samuel, my predecessor, and myself”.

“I’m delighted that Liz has been appointed. She brings with her not only a wealth of experience working in government but also a genuine excitement and interest in our work,” Payne added.

Rigzone has contacted industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) for comment on the NSTA’s statement. At the time of writing, OEUK has not yet responded to Rigzone’s request with a comment.

A statement posted on the UK government’s website on March 6, 2019, announced that the government had appointed Eggar as the new Chair of the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), which was the previous name for the NSTA.

“Mr Eggar will take up his position on 11 March, 2019, replacing Frances Morris-Jones, who will complete her term as interim Chair at the end of March,” that statement noted.

“Prior to taking on this role, Tim Eggar was a highly experienced non-executive Chair and Board Director, including in the oil and gas sector and the wider energy sector. He was a government minister for 11 years, and Energy Minister between 1992 and 1996,” it added.

In a statement posted on its site on March 21, 2022, the OGA said it had changed its name to the NSTA “to reflect its evolving role in the energy transition”.

“In 2021, the OGA revised our strategy to put net zero at the heart of our work alongside the important role of stewarding production,” the organization said in that statement.

“In March last year the North Sea Transition Deal between government and industry set out an ambitious program for this path and the crucial role that the UK’s oil and gas industry should play,” it added. 

“The new name embraces this new context and our expanding role in energy transition, including as the carbon storage license and permitting authority, monitoring of emissions, assessing a net zero test for new developments, and stewarding domestic production,” it continued.

In a statement posted on its site in July 2022, the NSTA announced that it had appointed Payne as its new Chief Executive. Payne succeeded Andy Samuel.

A transcript of a speech Payne delivered during OEUK’s recent annual conference in Aberdeen stated that the next chapter of the North Sea can be its best chapter.

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


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Andreas Exarheas
Editor | Rigzone