In line with the EU Strategy for a Clean Industrial Transition and the Clean Industry Deal, the European Commission has adopted a delegated regulation setting out the rules for determining and calculating the greenhouse gas emissions applicable to European oil and gas producers which must provide new solutions for CO2 storage by 2030. On the basis of this delegated regulation, the EC adopted a decision determining the individual shares of oil and gas companies in the implementation of the EU’s collective target of 50 million tonnes of annual CO2 injection capacity in geological CO2 storage sites by 2030, as set out in the Zero-Emission Industry Act.Net emissions.
The obligated producers must provide the European Industrial Carbon Management Market (ICM) with annual CO2 injection and storage capacity in geological storage sites by 2030. These facilities must be authorized in accordance with Directive 2009/31/EC. Companies that extract oil and gas below the specified threshold are exempt from this obligation.
In accordance with the decision adopted on this delegated act, by June 30, 2025, obligated producers must submit to the EC a detailed plan explaining how they intend to contribute to the EU’s carbon storage target for 2030. The plan must confirm the volume of new CO2 storage and injection capacity they aim to have available by 2030 and indicate the methods and interim targets they will use to achieve this goal. According to Article 2 of the published decision, permit holders with production volumes of crude oil and natural gas that account for 5% of the cumulative production volumes of crude oil and natural gas in the Union for the period from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2023, are considered excluded entities. to 31 December 2023, shall be considered exempt entities. These exempt entities are listed in Annex 2.
From June 30, 2026, obligated producers shall report annually to the EC, detailing their progress towards the above carbon dioxide storage target. The Commission shall make these reports publicly available.
The adopted delegated regulation is subject to a two-month scrutiny period by the Parliament and the Council. After this period, and if no objections are raised, the delegated regulation is expected to enter into force at the end of July 2025, simultaneously with the EC decision determining the shares of the companies, through publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Many industrial companies in Europe rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) for their decarbonization, but the number of CO2 storage sites remains insufficient. The European Commission estimates that from 2040 onwards, the EU will need to capture and permanently store approximately 250 million tons of CO2 each year to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
To expand the EU’s CO2 storage capacity to this level, the NZIA Regulation requires Member States to publish information on potential sites for storage facilities on their territory. In addition, they must ensure that all geological data collected during the exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons is made publicly available as soon as the relevant extraction site is notified for decommissioning.
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