The UK’s offshore oil and gas industry has outperformed official environmental targets, achieving significant reductions in emissions and discharges, according to new analysis published today by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK).
The 2025 Environmental Insight report shows a 34% cut in greenhouse gas emissions between 2018 and 2024, comfortably exceeding the North Sea Transition Deal target of 25% by 2027.
Methane emissions were reduced by 57% over the same period, already surpassing the 50% reduction goal set for 2030.
Monitoring also recorded a 78% decrease in the total volumes of unintentional oil and chemical releases between 2018 and 2024, alongside a 14% reduction in naturally occurring radioactive material brought to the surface in the last year.
Improvements were also noted in produced water management, dispersed oil levels and the use of chemicals, with most now classified as posing little or no risk.
Caroline Brown, Environment Manager at OEUK, said: “We’ve seen a significant reduction in the total volume of oil and chemical releases, a huge achievement driven by investment in cleaner technologies, improved operational practices and tight permit controls.”
Mark Wilson, HSE & Operations Director at OEUK, added: “Oil and gas will remain essential for decades to come. It is better from all points of view – financial, environmental and social that energy comes from our own homegrown North Sea supplies.”
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