Oil and gas: licensing for carbon storage
The Energy Act 2008 provides for a licensing regime that governs the offshore storage of carbon dioxide.
Overview
It forms part of the transposition into UK law of EU Directive 2009/31/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide. The Carbon Dioxide (Licensing etc) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/2221), which transpose many other requirements of the directive, came into force on 1 October 2010.
The regime applies to storage in the offshore area comprising both UK territorial sea and beyond designated as a gas importation and storage zone (GISZ) under section 1(5) of the act.
Licensing authority
The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is the licensing authority for offshore storage except within the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland, for which Scottish ministers authorise. In addition to applying for a licence, developers must obtain a grant of the appropriate rights from the Crown Estate.
Article 25 of the Directive on Geological Storage requires that the competent authority shall establish and maintain a register of the storage permits granted, for full details see: The Public Register
Contact information
Ricki Kiff
Telephone: 0300 067 1637
Email: ricki.kiff@decc.gsi.gov.uk