The Investigations & Enforcement Team sits within the NSTA's Regulation Directorate to address disputes between relevant persons and compliance with regulatory obligations.
The NSTA expects regulatory compliance. Some licensees do this voluntarily, others require assistance, direction, (such as through Facilitation or Enhanced Facilitation) or in more serious cases, enforcement action to achieve this.
The Investigations & Enforcement (I&E) Team sits within the NSTA's Regulation Directorate to address disputes between relevant persons and compliance with regulatory obligations.
Matters are often referred to the I&E Team from other teams within the NSTA. Depending on the nature of the issue, some teams will follow a measured escalation process before referring it to the I&E Team; details of the measured escalation process can be found here.
Other matters might involve a potential breach that has already taken place. In such instances, the issue can be referred directly to the I&E Team to consider once the potential breach has been identified.
When a matter is passed to the I&E Team, via any method, the team will carry out an Initial Assessment to decide the next steps.
When considering whether or not to take action using formal powers the NSTA will review that issue alongside its prioritisation criteria which can be found here.
There are various potential outcomes the NSTA can pursue after conducting an Initial Assessment. A summary of the options can be found here.
One outcome is opening a sanctions Investigation. Where the NSTA opens an Investigation, the NSTA will publish brief details of the existence of that Investigation. The NSTA will not generally name the parties who are the subject of the Investigation at that stage, unless the NSTA considers it would be in the public interest to do so.
The NSTA may publish details of any Sanction Notice issued (including the identity of the parties subject to the sanction) subject to the condition that the NSTA may not publish anything that, in the NSTA’s opinion, is commercially sensitive, not in the public interest to publish or is otherwise not appropriate for publication.
The NSTA has published a range of guidance.
Guidance on Disputes over Third Party Access to Upstream Oil and Gas Infrastructure
Latest update July 2025
On 10 December 2024, the NSTA wrote to all licensees to advise that from 1 January 2025, the starting figure when considering the level of any fine imposed for flaring and venting breaches is £500,000.
