OT01001 - The NSTA role in the UK North Sea: DESNZ and the North Sea Transition Authority

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) became part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in July 2016. BEIS became The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in 2023. The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) became the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) in 2022. DESNZ works alongside the NSTA. The relationship between the Government (as represented by DESNZ) and the NSTA is set out on the NSTA website.

The NSTA is responsible for licensing exploration and regulating development of the UK’s oil and gas resources. The NSTA is based in two sites in the UK: Aberdeen and London. The address of their headquarters in Aberdeen is AB1 Building, 48 Huntly Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1SH. The responsibilities of the NSTA may be summarised as follows:

  • to promote the exploration for oil and gas resources over the maximum extent of the UKCS by means of an appropriate licensing regime which pays due regard to the environment and to the interests of other land and sea users
  • to regulate and promote oil and gas developments which are technically, economically and environmentally sound
  • to continue to improve the understanding of the upstream UK oil and gas industry and its international markets, to promote open competitive markets and strong companies in the UK and to influence EU policy formulation and international discussions
  • to collect, analyse and selectively disseminate data relating to the UK’s hydrocarbons reserves in order to assist planning and decision taking in Government and the industry.

The NSTA publishes detailed information on the administration of the North Sea and UK oil, and data on oil and gas fields in Great Britain and on the UK continental shelf on its website which can be found at https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/data-centre/ .

The regulatory and promotional role of the NSTA forms an important part of the backcloth to the North Sea fiscal regime. Issues such as the granting of licences and development consents, the determination of the boundaries of oil fields and the approval of decommissioning programmes may all be significant for PRT and RFCT/SC. As a result, LB Oil and Gas has close links with DESNZ/NSTA.