OEUK calls for faster industry and government action to scale CCS and hydrogen infrastructure across the North Sea, emphasising the importance of a connected regional system to support decarbonisation of heavy industry and maximise storage potential.
Offshore Energies UK has urged governments and industry to move faster on planning, regulation and investment if carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen networks, are to scale across the North Sea in time to support heavy industry’s decarbonisation.
The trade body said a new study from DNV argues that the region should be treated as a single connected system rather than as a patchwork of national schemes. That approach, the report suggests, would improve affordability, resilience and interoperability while creating longer-term value for projects spanning the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France.
Laura Moyle, OEUK’s CCS and carbon markets manager, said the UK and Norway were well placed to act as long-term storage hubs for European carbon dioxide, with the Southern North Sea offering advantages for industrial clusters in north-west Europe. She also warned that the industry’s storage lead could narrow if new sites are not licensed and developed quickly enough.
OEUK said the UK Continental Shelf could theoretically store around 70 billion tonnes of CO2. But the organisation added that capture volumes could begin to catch up with, and potentially outstrip, planned injection capacity in the mid-to-late 2040s unless additional storage projects are brought forward. The report also underlines the need for clearer rules on cross-border access, liability, regulation and long-term stewardship if developers are to secure finance for assets that may take 20 to 30 years to pay back.
The DNV study forms part of a wider body of work being launched around OEUK’s first North Sea CCS and hydrogen summit in Edinburgh on 1-2 June 2026. OEUK says the event is bringing together project developers, regulators, investors and supply-chain firms to discuss how to accelerate delivery while building systems that can operate at scale across borders.
Alongside the DNV work, a separate study by Xodus examines the infrastructure needed for cross-border CO2 transport, including port capacity, technology readiness and likely capital requirements. It projects that the North Sea region could handle the largest share of cross-border carbon flows, rising from 18 million tonnes a year in 2030 to 36 million tonnes a year by 2050.
The emphasis on shared infrastructure comes as the UK’s first large CCS schemes move from planning towards execution. DNV recently said it had been appointed independent certifier for the Northern Endurance Partnership, the transport and storage network that will serve the East Coast Cluster and carry captured emissions from Teesside into permanent storage beneath the southern North Sea.
OEUK has also updated its guidance on decommissioning wells and assessing legacy wells for CO2 storage, reflecting growing attention on the integrity of converted reservoirs. For the sector, the message is clear: storage potential is abundant, but turning it into commercial reality will depend on policy certainty, technical standards and investment decisions that match the scale of the opportunity.
- https://businessnewswales.com/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects – Please view link – unable to able to access data
- https://oeuk.org.uk/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/ – Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has highlighted the necessity for coordinated infrastructure, clearer cross-border regulations, and enhanced investor confidence to advance Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and hydrogen technologies in the North Sea. A report commissioned from DNV, titled ‘An Integrated and Resilient North Sea’, examines CO₂ transport and storage, as well as hydrogen transport across the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France. The study advocates for planning infrastructure as a unified North Sea system to achieve affordability, resilience, interoperability, and long-term value. Laura Moyle, OEUK’s CCS and Carbon Markets Manager, emphasized the UK’s and Norway’s potential as long-term CO₂ storage providers for Europe, particularly in the Southern North Sea, which offers cost and resilience advantages for industrial clusters in northwest Europe. The report also underscores the importance of developing additional storage sites to meet future CO₂ storage needs, as the UK Continental Shelf has the geological potential to store around 70 billion tonnes of CO₂. The study anticipates that by the mid-to-late 2040s, capture volumes could match or exceed planned injection capacity unless additional storage sites are licensed and developed. The report is available on OEUK’s website, and Xodus will be launching its study at OEUK’s CCS & Hydrogen Summit in Edinburgh. Additionally, OEUK has updated its guidance on Well Decommissioning and Legacy Well Assessment for CO₂ Storage (Issue 2), reflecting the latest industry expertise on decommissioned wells and expanding the document’s scope to support well operators and engineers in maintaining the integrity of future CO₂ storage sites and assessing the integrity of inherited legacy wells during the conversion of a reservoir to a carbon store.
- https://oeuk.org.uk/oeuk-convenes-north-sea-leaders-at-ccs-hydrogen-summit-in-june/ – Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) is set to host its inaugural North Sea CCS & Hydrogen Summit on 1–2 June 2026 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh. The event aims to bring together industry leaders, regulators, investors, and the supply chain to discuss accelerating Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects, strengthening supply chains, and aligning standards across the North Sea region. The summit will focus on balancing the short-term delivery of critical CCS and hydrogen projects with the need for large-scale development. Discussions will cover project lessons, practical policy solutions, and effective delivery of robust projects, ensuring the North Sea remains central to the UK’s and Northwest Europe’s energy security. The event is supported by sponsors such as Kent, Spirit Energy, Accenture, and Pinsent Masons.
- https://oeuk.org.uk/oeuk-2025-reports-dashboard/ – Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has released its 2025 Reports Dashboard, providing insights into the future of the North Sea energy sector. The dashboard highlights key milestones, including a target of 50GW offshore wind capacity by 2030, 70Gt CCS capacity by 2035, and £1.6bn investment in hydrogen. It also outlines the potential for 200,000 jobs to transition into CCS, hydrogen, and offshore wind sectors while maintaining a strong oil and gas base. The economic contribution breakdown shows a £25bn annual contribution from wages, tax, supply chain, and exports. The dashboard emphasizes the potential £165bn prize with reform versus the risk of 80% imports and lost investment without action. These figures are drawn directly from OEUK’s 2025 publications, including the Economic Report 2025, Impact of Fiscal Policy 2025, and Future of the North Sea Briefing 2025.
- https://oeuk.org.uk/uk-wide-collaboration-in-focus-at-oeuks-first-ccs-hydrogen-summit/ – Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) is set to host its first North Sea CCS & Hydrogen Summit on 1–2 June 2026 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh. The event, themed ‘An Integrated and Resilient North Sea’, aims to bring together UK and European perspectives from various industrial sectors, government, and regulators to seize the decarbonisation and growth opportunity for the region. The summit builds on OEUK’s 2025 report, ‘Carbon Capture & Storage in the UK: Accelerating towards the merchant model’, which outlined a clear path for transitioning the UK’s CCS sector from a government-supported model to a fully commercial, investor-led market. The UK has significant potential to emerge as a global leader in decarbonisation efforts due to its substantial carbon storage capacity, world-class supply chain, and a project pipeline where several CCS and hydrogen projects are advancing from concept to construction.
- https://www.dnv.com/news/2026/dnv-to-certify-uks-northern-endurance-partnership-co2-transport-network/ – DNV has been appointed as the Independent Certifier for the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), the CO₂ transport and storage project underpinning the UK’s East Coast Cluster. NEP will transport CO₂ captured from industrial emitters in Teesside for permanent storage beneath the southern North Sea. DNV’s scope spans the full transport chain, from receipt of CO₂ at the compression facility, through conditioning to dense phase, to the offshore pipeline and injection system. DNV brings extensive experience in carbon capture and storage projects internationally, including leadership of joint industry projects, CO₂ testing and validation at its Spadeadam Research & Development Facility, and decades of independent verification work in the UK oil and gas sector. Its technical standards for CO₂ transport and storage are widely applied across the industry, supporting robust assessment of integrity, safety, and operability. Infrastructure such as NEP will play a central role in supporting industrial decarbonization at scale. As Europe advances toward becoming one of the world’s most significant CCS regions, the UK’s first Track‑1 projects will set the benchmark for how CCS infrastructure is built and operated.
- https://www.dnv.com/cases/project-greensand-the-worlds-first-cross-border-carbon-storage-site/ – Project Greensand is a pioneering initiative exploring the cross-border transport of carbon dioxide and its offshore storage in the Danish North Sea. Comprising 23 Danish and international partners from industry, research, and academia, the consortium has developed a location and technology for injecting and storing CO₂. The first stage of Project Greensand focuses on the depleted Nini West field, which has been certified by DNV to store up to 0.3 million tonnes of CO₂ per year from 2025/26 and will increase capacity to 0.4 million tonnes per year in a later phase. The full project could potentially store 8 million tonnes per year (equivalent to 13% of Denmark’s annual emissions) by 2030. DNV enables the project to navigate the complex regulatory and permitting landscape within an ambitious schedule, providing independent assurance to support the safe, compliant startup of this
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
8
Notes:
The article was published on 2 June 2026, which is recent. However, the content references a DNV report titled ‘An Integrated and Resilient North Sea’ commissioned by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). The report was launched at OEUK’s first CCS & Hydrogen Summit in Edinburgh, which took place on 1–2 June 2026. This suggests that the article is reporting on a recent event and is likely fresh. ([oeuk.org.uk](https://oeuk.org.uk/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/?utm_source=openai))
Quotes check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article includes a direct quote from Laura Moyle, OEUK’s CCS and Carbon Markets Manager. A search for this quote yields results from OEUK’s official website, indicating that the quote is original and directly attributed. ([oeuk.org.uk](https://oeuk.org.uk/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/?utm_source=openai))
Source reliability
Score:
9
Notes:
The article originates from Business News Wales, a regional news outlet. While it is not a major international news organisation, it is a legitimate source for regional business news. The content is also corroborated by OEUK’s official website, lending credibility to the information. ([oeuk.org.uk](https://oeuk.org.uk/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/?utm_source=openai))
Plausibility check
Score:
8
Notes:
The claims made in the article align with known industry trends and recent developments in the North Sea CCS and hydrogen sectors. The emphasis on the need for clearer policy and stronger investment to scale these projects is consistent with ongoing discussions in the energy sector. ([oeuk.org.uk](https://oeuk.org.uk/clearer-policy-and-stronger-investment-needed-to-scale-north-sea-ccs-and-hydrogen-projects/?utm_source=openai))
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The article is recent and reports on a recent event, with direct quotes from OEUK’s official website. The source is a regional news outlet, and while the content is corroborated by OEUK’s official website, the article’s independence is slightly reduced due to reliance on OEUK’s commissioned report. Overall, the article appears credible, but the medium confidence reflects the slight concerns regarding source independence.
