April Fools’ Day is nearly here but jokes and pranks will be far from people’s minds.
Those are the opening words in a press releasei dated 21st March 2022, and are written by Dr Andy Samuel, Chief Executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA).
What on earth is the North Sea Transition Authority? Well, it’s what used to be known as the Oil & Gas Authority. As its website saysii:
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) was established to regulate the UK oil and gas industry, in conjunction with other regulatory authorities, and has a range of powers to deliver this remit.
Despite being primarily charged with regulating the oil and gas industry, it seems it’s just too embarrassing to retain any reference to oil and gas in its title. As Steve Baker is quoted in the Sunday Telegraphiii as saying:
It sends worrying signals that the UK’s oil and gas regulator daren’t now use the words ‘oil’ or ‘gas’ in its title.
The NSTA’s websiteiv tells us:
The Petroleum Act 1998 vests all rights to the UK’s petroleum resources in the Crown and provides the NSTA with the power to grant licences that confer exclusive rights to ‘search and bore for and get’ petroleum. Each of these licences confers such rights over a limited area and for a limited period.
The Act also puts into statute the principal objective of maximising the economic recovery of the UK’s offshore oil and gas resources (by way of the Infrastructure Act 2015).
Or, as Dr Samuel put it in the press release:
Our organisation was founded as the Oil and Gas Authority in 2015, tasked with maximising the value of the oil and gas industry.
But hey, who cares about that? Or about the need for energy security? A war in Ukraine, putting pressure on oil and gas prices?
No, what matters is this:
Last year, we revised our strategy to fully incorporate net zero in our decision making. We are now becoming the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) to reflect our expanded role, which includes emissions monitoring and carbon storage licensing.
Perfect timing! Especially given this (from the press release again):
The energy Trilemma of security, affordability and sustainability is not a new phenomenon. However, the amount of attention the constituent parts receive is rarely balanced.
Well, you can certainly say that again. Until recently nobody in authority seemed to give two hoots about energy security or affordability – net zero was apparently all that mattered. And we could be forgiven for thinking that not much has changed. The press release ends with a depressing conclusion, from which (as with the name change) it is apparent that net zero still trumps the affordability and security of UK energy:
COP26 reinforced the urgency of the climate crisis and the importance of sustainability, the recent rise in global energy demand brought affordability to the forefront, and the war in Ukraine has put security of supply in the spotlight. Finding the right pathway to net zero, and showing sound leadership, means always keeping all three in mind. The Deal strikes the right balance. The NSTA will continue to work with government, industry and other regulators to ensure it is upheld and play our full part in the transition.
April Fool’s Day is indeed almost here. The name change and press release might usefully have been delayed until then. Unfortunately the joke is on us.
Endnotes
i https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/news-publications/news/2022/andy-samuel-on-the-oga-becoming-the-north-sea-transition-authority/
ii https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/regulatory-framework/overview/
iii https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/26/rebranded-oil-gas-regulator-scared-associated-fossil-fuels-says/
iv https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/regulatory-framework/legislative-context/
Climate Scepticism 
Cynical people, pushing irrational hype, silencing qualified critics, dominating the public square and corrupting institutions to do their bidding. The “public relations” side of the green blob in action. And, it turns out, funded and influenced by Putin…
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Some say the ouroboros is a symbol of the eternal cycle of life. I think of it as a snake biting itself in half and subsequently feeling a bit stupid. Thus with the Oil and Gas Authority. I wanted to know its history: the excised quote makes clear that it was created in 2015. What did they call it before then? Wiki:
Less than ten years ago, an expert was set the task of maximising the recovery of oil and gas. In 2015 the OGA was born. Within 7 years its remit had changed to become the destruction of the oil and gas industry.
From the press release cited by Mark:
No doubt if there is a similar requirement on wind farm installers and operators, they use a little bit o’ prestidigitation to show that the wind turbines pay that debt with a tiny bit of their production.
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They are doing something, anyway:
“Cambo oil field off Shetland granted two-year licence extension”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-60917159
“The high-profile planned Cambo oil field off Shetland has been granted a licence extension.
In December, Shell said the economic case – along with possible regulatory delays – meant it was withdrawing from the project, 75 west miles of Shetland.
However the energy giant is understood to be reconsidering that decision.
Shell and Siccar Point Energy have now been granted a two-year extension from the North Sea Transition Authority.
It gives them exclusive rights to explore that part of the sea bed.
The licence was due to end on Thursday, and the extension was not unexpected, but Friends of the Earth Scotland criticised the news.”
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“Cuadrilla given extra year to evaluate fracking wells”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60944314
“The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the firm now had until the end of June 2023 to evaluate options for the Preston New Road and Elswick sites.”
I wasn’t aware that Lancashire is in the North Sea. Perhaps the North Sea Transition Authority should have stuck with calling itself the Oil & Gas Authority…
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“Regulator warns North Sea production emissions could rise”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-62973842
Oh, is that how Scotland is going to achieve net zero by 2045, instead of 2050 by the rest of the UK (sic)? North Sea Oil production doesn’t count, because it’s in the UK figures and doesn’t count in Scotland.
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“North Sea oil and gas exploration ‘good for the environment'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-63184412
Perhaps the North Sea Transition Authority should revert to its previous name?
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“Dozens of bids to drill new oil and gas fields”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64297563
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“Aker BP makes ‘significant’ North Sea oil find”
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/aker-bp-makes-significant-north-sea-oil-find-2025-08-21/
Oil field operator Aker BP (AKRBP.OL), opens new tab and its partners have made a significant oil discovery that adds substantial new resources to their Yggdrasil field area of the North Sea, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.
The Omega Alfa exploration campaign resulted in the discovery of a recoverable volume estimated at between 96 million and 134 million barrels of oil equivalent, Aker BP said.
“Omega Alfa is among the largest commercial discoveries in Norway in a decade,” Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik said, adding that the companies will seek to unlock additional resources in the area…..
Are you making notes, Ed? Are you watching, North Sea Transition Authority?
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What’s in a name?
“Net-zero ‘not a platitude’ for oil and gas sector – regulator”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy08rdye476o
...Originally called the Oil and Gas Authority, the regulatory body was renamed by the UK Conservative government in 2022 to reflect its growing role in the wider North Sea energy industry.
The NSTA’s job is to “regulate and influence the oil and gas, offshore hydrogen, and carbon storage industries” as well as holding the sector to account on reducing its operational emissions.
But Kemi Badenoch says she would rename it the “North Sea Authority” with a mandate to “maximise the extraction of our oil and gas.”…
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Mark – partial quote’s that stood out to me –
“Stuart Payne said the NSTA’s focus on green technologies has already delivered a 34% cut in emissions from producing oil and gas. However he said there was “much more to do.”
He added: “The words we use matter. How we talk about this industry, whether that’s in the wind side, whether that’s in CCS, in oil and gas, in decommissioning, it matters.
“And it’s vital that we do everything we can to ensure that we’re attracting and retaining investment in all of those things.”
Well Stu, how are you doing attracting and retaining investment “in oil and gas” given the quote below?
“Oil and gas production in the North Sea has been in decline for more than 25 years since it peaked in 1999.
Three years ago, an energy profits levy – or windfall tax – was introduced when prices spiked, taking the headline rate of tax on profits to 78%.
The industry has been lobbying for the tax to be cut and says up to a thousand jobs a month are being lost because of the pressures it is under.”
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Interesting piece by Nils Pratley, one of the few Guardian journalists (and there are a few) that I respect:
“Labour is still in a muddle on North Sea oil and gas
Maintaining existing drilling sites for longer is sensible but doesn’t square with plans to keep the energy profits levy”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2025/nov/26/labour-is-still-in-a-muddle-on-north-sea-oil-and-gas
...Ed Miliband’s energy security and net zero department will create “transitional energy certificates” for “limited” oil and gas drilling in areas that are part of an existing field or adjacent to a licensed field. The idea is to keep those sites economically viable for longer by using existing rigs and pipelines.
The approach sounds sensibly practical. The UK’s current reliance on imported oil and gas is doing little to reduce emissions (shipments of liquefied gas from the US and Qatar are far more polluting than domestic production) or protect jobs in a supply chain that will be needed to build renewables infrastructure.
The risk in not allowing “tiebacks” is that decline in the North Sea accelerates even faster at a time when oil and gas still provides three-quarters of the UK’s energy needs and imports are running at 40%. Miliband has proved to be more pragmatic on licensing than his industry critics made out. And, yes, his policy reads as manifesto-compliant.
But here’s the rub: the chancellor didn’t budge an inch on the windfall tax, the energy profits levy (EPL) introduced during the price spikes of 2022. The Treasury intends to keep the EPL in place until its scheduled end in 2030. Oil and gas companies say the levy is the real reason they’re cutting investment: the UK is simply uncompetitive when the marginal rate of tax in the North Sea is 78% and 2022’s sky-high prices for oil and gas have reversed.
“If the levy stays in place beyond 2026, projects will stall and jobs will vanish, no matter how pragmatic licensing policy becomes,” argued the trade lobby group Offshore Energies UK....
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BY the way, the Government’s so-called North Sea Strategy can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-sea-future-plan-for-fair-managed-and-prosperous-transition
…the government will introduce new Transitional Energy Certificates which will enable limited oil and gas production on or near to existing fields – so long as this additional production does not require new exploration and is already part of or links back to existing fields and infrastructure, and is necessary for a managed, orderly and prosperous transition. …
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Mark, thank you for showing us the government’s thinking. Unfortunately such thinking is entirely delusional as the EROEI parameter makes clear – see for example David Turver’s substack.
There is no energy-competent transition to current renewables, although there may be a politically enforced one. Hence there will be no wealth creating transition to renewables for ordinary people and so the question arises, how and for whom can such a transition be just/justified? Regards, John C.
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“Energy advisers warn ministers of emerging UK gas supply crisis
Government urged to address situation that could mean homes and businesses going without on coldest days”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/27/energy-advisers-warn-ministers-of-emerging-uk-gas-supply-crisis
Ministers have been warned that Britain could face a looming gas supply crisis by the end of the decade and should draw up plans to guard against the emerging risk….
…The first gas supply assessment since the National Energy System Operator (Neso) was established last year found that even though the UK’s demand for gas was likely to fall, there could still be potential shortfalls on the coldest days.
Neso quietly published its warning to ministers hours after the government set out its budget statement and economic forecasts, which suggested the decline of the UK’s domestic production of oil and gas was likely to accelerate.
Although the UK’s gas supplies were likely to be enough to cover demand when weather was normal, the report identified “an emerging risk to GB gas supply security” during periods of severely cold weather.
If even one piece of Britain’s ageing gas infrastructure suffers an outage, then the UK’s gas supplies would fall short of demand across all the scenarios Neso has modelled to 2030, according to the report.…
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“an emerging risk to GB gas supply security” during periods of severely cold weather.” Wonder if they have a clue what winter weather is like most years “up north”.
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