Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the new licencing round for 898 blocks in the North Sea, if he will publish a list of the pollutants which could be released into the marine environment from oil and gas exploration, drilling, and transportation; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has undertaken an Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment (OESEA4) of a draft plan for licensing and leasing areas for future offshore energy developments including offshore oil and gas, offshore gas and carbon dioxide storage, offshore renewables, and offshore hydrogen, in relevant waters of the UK Continental Shelf.

Public consultation on the OESEA4 Environmental Report took place between 17 March and 27 May 2022. The Government response to the OESEA4 was published in September 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/uk-offshore-energy-strategic-environmental-assessment-4-oesea4.

A Written Ministerial Statement adopting the plan was made in September 2022: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-09-22/hcws295.

In advance of any licence award, as part of the 33rd Offshore Oil and gas Licensing Round, a further Habitats Regulations Assessment will be undertaken.