U.K. Bans Further Oil & Gas Drilling in North Sea

The U.K. Labour government has introduced a bill that would ban any new exploration for oil and gas in the North Sea, as part of its commitment to reduce global warming, reports BBC News.

Under the provisions of the Energy Independence Bill announced November 4, the North Sea Transition Authority would no longer be able to grant new oil and gas licenses in the oil- and gas-rich area off the coast of Scotland. However, the bill would not stop drilling at the U.K.’s largest untapped oil field at Rosebank of the island of Shetland, because that was approved in 2022.

The opposition Conservatives said the bill was “dangerous,” and accused Labour ministers of being “totally oblivious to the economic and energy threats this country faces.”

The Energy Independence Bill, if passed by the Westminster parliament, would introduce Transitional Energy Certificates that allowed additional production from existing oil and gas fields and “areas bordering or in close proximity to already licensed fields.” The government said the move could produce about 60 million barrels of oil and support hundreds of jobs.

It also said the bill will more broadly deliver “a major overhaul of Britain’s energy system, putting affordability and public control at its heart.”

Greenpeace U.K. called the bill a “positive step forward for the clean energy transition,” while urging the government to cancel the Rosebank project.

At the heart of the matter is how the U.K. balances left-leaning policies to reduce greenhouse gases, while also seeking independence from imported fossil fuels. “The government is right to put energy affordability at the heart of this bill, but affordability must go hand in hand with energy security,” said David Whitehouse, chief executive of energy industry body Offshore Energies U.K. “Today, Britain imports more than 40% of the energy it needs, leaving households and businesses exposed in an increasingly volatile world.

A similar dilemma faces Norway, with one of the most socially liberal governments in the world, and also giant offshore reserves of oil and gas. In August, Reuters reported that Norway will continue developing its oil and gas resources in the Barents Sea, despite of the European ​Union’s support for a moratorium on Arctic hydrocarbon supplies. Norway is not a member of the EU, but is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), alongside Iceland and Liechtenstein.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Norway became Europe’s largest supplier of natural gas, meeting around 30% of gas demand of both the European Union and the U.K.