The North Sea Transition Forum (NSTF) is the tripartite body (industry, government and regulators) which provides government and industry leadership for the offshore oil and gas industry.
It is attended by ministers and officials from the UK and Scottish governments, trade unions, regulators and senior industry representatives.
It provides strategic direction to the offshore sector and sits at the top of a governance structure, including a steering group and seven industry task forces.
North Sea Transition Steering Group
The North Sea Transition Steering Group is co-chaired by the NSTA chief executive and a senior industry representative. It has oversight of the task forces, ensuring there is no duplication or gaps in the work being undertaken by the task forces.
Task Forces
The NSTF has seven strategic task forces, each co-chaired by a senior member from industry and a senior member from the NSTA. Each task force partners across industry (operators, service providers, academia and technology advisers such as the Net Zero Technology Centre) to deliver strategic projects in core areas.
With more than 100 members across all task forces, the structure provides significant reach and influence across industry.
Asset Stewardship Task Force
Improving the efficiency of oil and gas production and delivering industry decarbonisation targets on existing facilities. It works with asset operators to implement NSTA emissions reduction regulations and increase collaboration and knowledge sharing across industry.
CO2 Transportation and Storage Taskforce
Sharing best practice and lessons learned across the CO2 transportation and storage industry to help accelerate, derisk and optimise the development of new storage projects. It facilitates engagement across the sector and knowledge transfer by picking topics which work groups can research, report on and propose improvements.
Decommissioning and Repurposing Taskforce
Supporting industry efforts to safely reduce the cost of decommissioning, facilitating dialogue between all stakeholders and addressing the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector. The DaRT ensures there is a strategic and integrated approach to decommissioning across the whole North Sea.
Subsurface Task Force
Promoting responsible use of the UKCS’s subsurface storage and energy resources to support energy security, reduce the UK’s emissions impact and deliver societal and economic value.
Supply Chain and Exports Taskforce
Bringing industry, government and regulators together to maximise the opportunities for UK businesses both domestically and internationally. It currently focuses on delivering the local content ambitions in the North Sea Transition Deal.
Technology Leadership Board
Identifying key technology priorities in the sector, connecting technology developers with operators and increasing the deployment of value-adding technologies. It is currently focused on technologies to enhance offshore assets whilst reducing emissions, improve the use of digital capabilities and ready the sector for net zero.
Wells Task Force
Working with industry to improve the management of oil and gas wells across the UKCS, optimising production from existing wells, cutting the cost of drilling new wells and minimising decommissioning costs.
