The government has approved 27 new licences to begin drilling for oil in the North Sea, which ministers say will improve the UK’s energy security.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the licences were approved for projects that have the potential to go into production more quickly than others.
Climate scientists have warned that the expansion in North Sea oil drilling will do little to lower bills or improve security in the near term, while also counteracting efforts to curb global warming.
Despite this, the government has gone on a spree of approving new projects, with more than 100 new licences issued in 2022.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said his party will not grant any new licences in the North Sea if it wins the next election as part of plans to bolster the UK’s green economy and help tackle climate change.
But the decision will not stop drilling on projects that have already been approved with the exception of the Rosebank and Cambo schemes, which Labour has said previously it would block.
The government has insisted that the new exploration in the North Sea is compatible with the UK’s legal commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and that domestic fuel will have a lower carbon footprint in production and transportation than imported fuel.
The licences approved today were in the Central and Northern North Sea and West of Shetland. In recent years, the average time from licence award to production has been around five years.
In total, the NSTA had received 115 applications from 76 companies for 258 blocks or part blocks when the application window closed on 12 January 2023.
There are currently 284 offshore fields in production in the UK North Sea, with an estimated 5.25bn-barrel-equivalent projected production up to 2050.
Oil and gas currently contribute around three-quarters of domestic energy needs, and official forecasts show that it will continue to play a role in the UK’s energy mix in the coming decades.
Energy security secretary Claire Coutinho said: “As recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee, we’ll continue to need oil and gas over the coming decades as we deliver net zero.
“It’s common sense to reduce our reliance on foreign imports and use our own supply – it’s better for our economy, the environment and our energy security.
“These new licences are a welcome boost for the UK industry – which already supports around 200,000 jobs and contributes £16bn to the economy each year – while advancing our transition to low-carbon technologies, on which our future prosperity depends.”
Just Stop Oil supporters are marching in London today to demand the government halts all new oil, gas and coal projects in the UK.
Following the arrest of all 65 people at the protest, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “Just Stop Oil supporters are willing to slow march to the point of arrest today and every day until the police take action to prosecute the real criminals – the people who are facilitating new oil and gas when they know that to do so will kill hundreds of millions of people.
“Just in the last week, seven people have died in the UK as a result of extreme weather, and scientists are telling us it will only get worse. Neither major political party is serving the interests of the country – they are serving the mass murderers profiting while the world burns. There is no real opposition.”
Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s shadow energy security and net zero secretary, said: “Instead of embracing clean power, Rishi Sunak is doubling down on the root causes of Britain’s energy weakness – our dependence on fossil fuels and the dictators who control those markets.”
