North Sea

Exclusive: Findings cast doubt on claims new drilling would help cut bills and boost energy security, researchers sayHundreds of licences granted for new oil and gas projects in the North Sea under the Conservatives have so far produced only 36 days’ worth of gas, according to analysis.Research by the energy consultancy Voar and the campaign group Uplift found that between 2010 and 2024, the government handed out hundreds of new North Sea oil and gas licences in seven licensing rounds. Continue reading...

GB Energy chief Jürgen Maier says boost could bring economic benefits amid energy cost crisis and actually help transition from fossil fuelsThe head of the UK’s national green energy champion has joined other high-profile renewable energy leaders in making the case for more North Sea oil and gas production as the government braces for an energy cost crisis.GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier used a social media post on LinkedIn to reject the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help to bring down energy costs which have soared as the war in Iran has escalated. Continue reading...

Ed Miliband insists only clean power will provide ‘energy sovereignty’ amid opposition calls for oil and gas expansionUK politics live – latest updatesMinisters have said expanding North Sea drilling would put the UK at further risk of volatile fossil fuel markets, amid calls from the Conservatives and some Labour MPs to breach the manifesto pledge of no new oil and gas licences.The energy minister, Michael Shanks, said the UK was “learning the right lessons from this conflict so that we’re not exposed to fossil fuels in the same way again, because this isn’t the first time that households across the country have paid the price of our exposure to gas”. Continue reading...

Government emphasises need to ‘get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets’ in response to Offshore Energies UKThe UK government has dismissed a warning from an energy trade body that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time of rising global instability.The industry group, Offshore Energies UK, has said the UK “urgently” needs a greater supply of domestically produced energy or consumers will be left “more exposed to global volatility and higher emissions”. Continue reading...