(1)

Article 23(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 provides that entities holding an authorisation as defined in Article 1, point 3, of Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) are to contribute to the Union-wide target for available CO2 injection capacity by 2030 in proportion to the volumes of natural gas and crude oil they produced in the Union between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023.

(2)

In accordance with Article 23(3) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735, based on the information communicated by the Member States to the Commission under Article 23(2) of that Regulation by 30 September 2024, the Commission is to specify the individual contributions to the Union CO2 injection capacity objective by 2030 from entities holding an authorisation.

(3)

To this end, it is first necessary to supplement the rules on the basis of which the authorisation holders subject to the contribution obligation should be identified, and their individual contributions calculated.

(4)

In accordance with Article 23(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735, the Commission is to specify a production threshold below which an authorisation holder is excluded from the contribution obligation. The purpose of that threshold is to concentrate the administrative effort for the national authorities and for the obligated entities on those entities which, due to their significant activities in the production of hydrocarbons, have the financial and technical means to invest in the deployment of CO2 geological storage sites. In accordance with Article 23(5), in order to meet their targeted volumes of available injection capacity, the obligated entities may invest in, or develop CO2 storage projects alone or in cooperation, may enter into agreements with other obligated entities and may enter into agreements with third-party storage project developers or investors to fulfil their contribution.

(5)

It is also necessary, when specifying the production threshold, to pay particular attention to SMEs and to ensure fairness in the distribution of the excluded injection capacity amongst obligated entities.

(6)

It is therefore appropriate to exclude authorisation holders that produced less than 610 thousand tonnes of oil equivalent of natural gas and crude oil from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 and which represent a total production of natural gas and crude oil accounting for less than 5 % of total Union natural gas and crude oil production over the period concerned.

(7)

The amount of each contribution should be calculated pro-rata by dividing the volumes produced by each obligated entity by the sum of the production of all obligated entities. This ratio should then be multiplied by the Union-wide target for CO2 injection capacity by 2030, that is 50 million tonnes per year.

(8)

Some Member States allow more than one entity to hold the same authorisation. In such cases, the Member State concerned should indicate the production volumes of each joint authorisation holder so that the Commission can identify whether they are subject to the contribution obligation, and specify the amount of their contribution, or if they are to be excluded.

(9)

Authorisations may have been transferred from one legal entity to another between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. To accurately divide the production volumes between the transferor entity and the transferee entity, it is appropriate to determine the relevant point in time for the division of the production and the corresponding contribution obligation between the holders of the authorisation.

(10)

In order that all production on Union territory between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023 is translated into an obligation to contribute to the development of CO2 injection capacity, provision should be made with regard to authorisation holders who have ceased to legally exist during that period as well as by 31 December 2030.

(11)

To monitor the progress towards reaching the Union-wide target for CO2 injection capacity, in accordance with Article 42(7) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735, it is necessary to provide for a standard set of information required for the reports referred to in Article 23(6) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 based on information provided by the obligated entities alone or in cooperation, if they cooperate in accordance with Article 23(5) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.

(12)

In accordance with Article 23(4) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735, by 30 June 2025, the authorisation holders are to submit to the Commission a plan specifying in detail how they intend to meet their contribution to the Union CO2 injection capacity objective by 2030. In order to allow authorisation holders time to prepare and submit that plan by 30 June 2025, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency,

(1)

‘authorisation holder’ means a legal entity, notified by Member States to the Commission in accordance with Article 23(2) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 as the holder of an authorisation as defined in Article 1, point 3, of Directive 94/22/EC, that held the relevant authorisation during the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023, or the current holder, should they differ;

(2)

‘obligated entity’ means an authorisation holder that is subject to an individual contribution to the Union-wide target for available CO2 injection capacity set in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735;

(3)

‘excluded entity’ means an authorisation holder that is not subject to an individual contribution to the Union-wide target for available CO2 injection capacity set in Article 20(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1735.