UK oil and gas body expands scope to cover low-carbon tech

UK North Sea trade body OGUK has expanded its scope to include low-carbon technologies such as hydrogen, wind and carbon capture and storage (CCS), and has rebranded itself to Offshore Energies UK to reflect this change, it said on January 31.

Offshore Energies said the expansion of its remit would take effect on February 14 and follows a year-long strategic review. While supporting low-carbon technologies, it said it would continue to "champion the oil and gas sector."

"Our members are investing in cleaner energies, boosting the technologies needed to support jobs, communities and the UK's energy security - and to drive the transition to low-carbon energy," CEO Deirdre Michie said in a statement. "Following an extensive strategic review, we recognised that we too need to evolve to reflect what is happening in our sector."

Offshore Energies noted that some of its present members were already involved low-carbon projects including Acorn Hydrogen & CCS, Equinor's Dogger Bank, the West Anglesey Tidal Energy Project, Hywind Scotland, Drax Zero Carbon Humber Projects, OGCI Climate Investments and Net Zero Teesside.

The move by the association follows similar rebrandings by European oil and gas majors to reflect their shift to lower-carbon energy, including in 2018 at Statoil, now Equinor, and in 2021 at Total, now TotalEnergies.