Peter Lazenby
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THREE North Sea oil and gas firms have been fined a total of more than £250,000 for breaking gas emission regulations.
Two firms “flared” hundreds of tonnes of gas from rigs and a third exceeded its production limits, regulatory body the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) found.
UK-based EnQuest was fined £150,000 for flaring more than 262 tonnes of gas in the North Sea Magnus field between November 30 and December 1 last year.
Norway-based Equinor was fined £65,000 for flaring at least 348 tonnes of CO2 above the amount permitted in the Barnacle field, also in the North Sea, between June and November 2020.
Spirit Energy was fined £50,000 for exceeding the maximum allowed production volumes from two fields over three years.
NSTA director of regulation Jane de Lozey said: “The NSTA is committed to supporting the UK’s energy security and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, including through the use of our robust consenting procedures, which drive down flaring and venting.
“We are encouraged by recent improvements on emissions and will take action to ensure this vital work is not undermined by companies who fail to meet their obligations.”
She said that overproduction from North Sea oil and gas reservoirs “can reduce the overall long-term production from a reservoir to the detriment of the UK’s security of supply.”
The authority is responsible for ensuring that oil and gas companies comply with transition to net-zero emissions by 2030, which includes enforcing production limits and ending unnecessary flaring — burning — or release of gas.
Ola Morten Aanestad of Equinor said its fine for excess venting related to an “administrative breach.”
A spokesperson for Spirit Energy said: “After identifying the circumstances which gave rise to this sanction, Spirit reported them to the NSTA and fully co-operated with their investigation.”
An EnQuest spokesman said: “EnQuest can confirm it has been sanctioned by the North Sea Transition Authority for a breach of flaring consent that occurred on the group’s Magnus asset in November 2021.”
In 2021, 25.8 billion cubic feet of gas was flared from British waters.
