I mean one thing this war shows me is that the UK, and Europe at large really, are becoming more and more irrelevant around the world (as we should, with UK+EU being less than 10% of the world population afterall). Best thing we can do in this case is to make sure we can rely on ourselves.
2 years of gas supply that we have to buy off international markets anyway is not gonna cut it. We need to invest like never before in local renewable energy.
On a positive note, right this very second renewables account for 70% of our grid, with fossil fuels being 2%. Of course it varies day by day, but isn’t this a hoot. We got lucky with it being windy during this mess of a war.
It’s crazy that, after the lessons of Ukraine in 2022, we decided to accelerate the decline of the North Sea. It’s genuinely insane to choose to shut it down even faster in 2026.
Labour implemented a 78% tax rate, are holding up large fields like Jackdaw that are ready to go, and have banned new exploration entirely (The UK drilled zero exploration wells last year for the first time since the 1960s; Norway drilled 49). The latest wheeze from Labour is to delay these fields on the grounds of scope 3 emissions, from burning the stuff, which are identical whether we get it from the North Sea or the Middle East.
The UK still gets over 70% of all its energy demand from oil & gas, and needs it for decades, even per the CCC Today imports are approaching 60% of demand, but 80% by 2030s with Labour’s drilling ban: UK production is falling far faster than UK demand.
So the energy security argument is clear. 100% of UK North Sea gas comes to the UK and ~100% is used here. We own the lot: licensing it for a chunk of all profits (currently 78%), but able to take control in a true crisis.
Bills too. More production will lower bills (a lot more than Jackdaw tbf, just to offset natural decline): basic economics. Look at the delta between NBP and TTF, and the USA where gas is currently 6 times cheaper than here. There is no “international price”.
Plus tax revenue and jobs. The North Sea generated £9bn for the exchequer in 2022-23, and supports over 100k jobs, though 1000 are being lost every month with new investment cratering. Imported oil & gas generates zero for the exchequer and employs zero in the UK.
And, remarkably, its the best option for the environment. The UK is holding up final approvals of fields that have a lower carbon intensity than any import (e.g. Rosebank at 3kg CO2/boe) and banning new fields that are even better, only to replace that with far dirtier imports like fracked American gas as LNG (80 kgCO2/boe). That’s the UK’s fastest growing import, not relatively clean Norwegian gas, which is effectively maxed out. Hitting net zero in the UK means sweet FA if we are emitting far more abroad for our same demand.
The only reason left to oppose new North Sea drilling is misguided ideology. The greens are greenwashing.
You mean the British Media released an unfounded “U turn” story to embarrass the Energy Minster who they despise because he has been pushing net zero clean energy?
Well I for one am shocked. SHOCKED.
Last I heard, the north sea oil is about 80% depleted. It’s honestly not worth it anymore and just contributes to the governments insistence that electricity prices are pegged to oil.
4 comments
I mean one thing this war shows me is that the UK, and Europe at large really, are becoming more and more irrelevant around the world (as we should, with UK+EU being less than 10% of the world population afterall). Best thing we can do in this case is to make sure we can rely on ourselves.
2 years of gas supply that we have to buy off international markets anyway is not gonna cut it. We need to invest like never before in local renewable energy.
On a positive note, right this very second renewables account for 70% of our grid, with fossil fuels being 2%. Of course it varies day by day, but isn’t this a hoot. We got lucky with it being windy during this mess of a war.
It’s crazy that, after the lessons of Ukraine in 2022, we decided to accelerate the decline of the North Sea. It’s genuinely insane to choose to shut it down even faster in 2026.
Labour implemented a 78% tax rate, are holding up large fields like Jackdaw that are ready to go, and have banned new exploration entirely (The UK drilled zero exploration wells last year for the first time since the 1960s; Norway drilled 49). The latest wheeze from Labour is to delay these fields on the grounds of scope 3 emissions, from burning the stuff, which are identical whether we get it from the North Sea or the Middle East.
The UK still gets over 70% of all its energy demand from oil & gas, and needs it for decades, even per the CCC Today imports are approaching 60% of demand, but 80% by 2030s with Labour’s drilling ban: UK production is falling far faster than UK demand.
So the energy security argument is clear. 100% of UK North Sea gas comes to the UK and ~100% is used here. We own the lot: licensing it for a chunk of all profits (currently 78%), but able to take control in a true crisis.
Bills too. More production will lower bills (a lot more than Jackdaw tbf, just to offset natural decline): basic economics. Look at the delta between NBP and TTF, and the USA where gas is currently 6 times cheaper than here. There is no “international price”.
Plus tax revenue and jobs. The North Sea generated £9bn for the exchequer in 2022-23, and supports over 100k jobs, though 1000 are being lost every month with new investment cratering. Imported oil & gas generates zero for the exchequer and employs zero in the UK.
And, remarkably, its the best option for the environment. The UK is holding up final approvals of fields that have a lower carbon intensity than any import (e.g. Rosebank at 3kg CO2/boe) and banning new fields that are even better, only to replace that with far dirtier imports like fracked American gas as LNG (80 kgCO2/boe). That’s the UK’s fastest growing import, not relatively clean Norwegian gas, which is effectively maxed out. Hitting net zero in the UK means sweet FA if we are emitting far more abroad for our same demand.
The only reason left to oppose new North Sea drilling is misguided ideology. The greens are greenwashing.
You mean the British Media released an unfounded “U turn” story to embarrass the Energy Minster who they despise because he has been pushing net zero clean energy?
Well I for one am shocked. SHOCKED.
Last I heard, the north sea oil is about 80% depleted. It’s honestly not worth it anymore and just contributes to the governments insistence that electricity prices are pegged to oil.