Cross-sector collaboration and close consultation of industry experts will be key to delivering the North Sea Future Plan (NSFP).
That’s what Mark Wilson, HSE and Operations Director at industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), said in a release sent to Rigzone recently, which highlighted that OEUK will host its 2026 HSE conference on February 25, “bringing together leaders from across sectors to shape the future of the North Sea as a multi-purpose energy basin”.
“Under the theme ‘Trust. Transparency. Transformation’, the conference will kick off with a pivotal session based on the UK government’s North Sea Future Plan, which will explore how co-location between offshore wind, oil and gas, and carbon capture and storage (CCUS) can deliver a safer, cleaner basin,” OEUK said in its release.
The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced the NSFP in a statement posted on its site back in November 2025.
“We look forward to welcoming industry leaders, technical experts, regulators, and innovators to this one-day event,” Wilson said in the OEUK release.
“The first session of the day is a great opportunity to hear how improved guidance, aligned standards, better data sharing, and early engagement can enable offshore energies to achieve safe and sustainable co-location across the North Sea and support the plan’s integrated vision,” he added.
OEUK noted in its release that its event explores the themes of trust, transparency, and transformation across all areas of health, safety, and environment, including emissions performance. It added that the conference features full audience events as well as a series of parallel breakout sessions throughout the day.
In its statement published in November last year, DESNZ announced the publication of a “landmark plan to protect existing jobs and deliver the next generation of good, new jobs”.
“The government is charting a new course for the North Sea, providing a global blueprint for a fair, managed, and prosperous transition to future proof the sector,” DESNZ said in the statement.
“The new North Sea Future Plan … sets a clear path to grow clean energy industries, support the management of existing oil and gas fields for their lifespan, and help North Sea workers and communities make the transition,” it added.
“The plan implements the government’s manifesto commitments to manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan, and to not issue new licenses to explore new oil and gas fields,” it continued.
“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,” it went on to state.
In the statement, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said, “the North Sea’s workers and communities have helped power our country and our world for decades”.
“This is our plan to ensure they continue to do so for many decades to come. This is a world-leading plan with workers, unions, businesses, and communities at its heart, and implements in full the government’s manifesto commitments,” he added.
“It is a plan which will ensure that the North Sea is an energy powerhouse throughout the twenty first century,” he continued.
Stuart Payne, Chief Executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), said in that statement, “this plan provides clarity and direction for the energy industry, as well as for the North Sea Transition Authority as an organization”.
“We will work together with government and industry to ensure that we continue to drive forward the transition as an enabling regulator, delivering the next chapter for the North Sea and all who rely on it,” he added.
OEUK describes itself on its website as the leading trade association for the UK offshore energy industry and a not for profit membership organization with a history stretching back five decades. The NSTA highlights on its site that it licenses, regulates, and influences the UK oil and gas, offshore hydrogen, and carbon storage industries.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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