The UK oil and gas industry’s rich history of innovation will be critical to efforts to build a lower carbon economy, a new report reveals today.

The Energy Transition Outlook report, published by leading industry body Oil & Gas UK, considers the issues and opportunities for the offshore oil and gas sector from the changing energy landscape.

Drawing on existing research carried out by its member organisations and independent consultants and agencies, the 20-page report provides an overview of the key political, economic, technological and social drivers that are influencing the energy mix. It also highlights the critical importance of industry’s drive to maximise production from the UK Continental Shelf to provide security of supply while moving towards achieving climate change ambitions.

It concludes by setting out a policy road map that utilises the UK’s world leading expertise in offshore technology to deliver the next phase of the energy transition.

The findings of the report will be presented by Will Webster, Energy Policy Manager and report author at an Oil & Gas UK Business Breakfast event, sponsored by Deloitte.

Speaking ahead of the event, Will Webster said:
“This report demonstrates industry’s key role in the energy transition and reinforces that Vision 2035, industry’s ambition to add a generation of production to the UK North Sea and double the export opportunity for the supply chain, is critical in achieving the balance between delivering our climate change targets and ensuring security of energy supply.

“As the report shows, despite the rapid advances in lower carbon technologies there is ongoing demand for oil and gas in several key areas including transport and domestic heating. A total of 80% of the UK’s 27 million homes are heated by gas, demonstrating the long-term importance of our industry in ensuring security of energy supply.

“A lower carbon future will still require large scale energy distribution networks, undersea engineering and the mass movement and storage of gases and liquids. The role for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) and the development of hydrogen on an industrial scale will also feature in the future as these will be essential elements of any lower carbon environment.

“Clear evidence for this was in the action plan recently published by the Government to deliver the UK’s first carbon capture usage and storage projects by the mid-2020s. The industry’s expertise and use of pioneering technology means we are ready to play a central role in delivering cost effective, competently engineered solutions for CCUS.

”The Energy Transition Outlook 2018 is available here.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Oil & Gas UK