{"id":475227,"date":"2026-03-14T12:46:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T12:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/475227\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T12:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T12:46:17","slug":"ed-miliband-told-to-open-up-the-north-sea-by-uk-manufacturers-or-risk-accelerating-de-industrialisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/475227\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Miliband told to open up the North Sea by UK manufacturers or \u2018risk accelerating de-industrialisation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK manufacturers have urged Ed Miliband to approve drilling in the North Sea\u2019s largest untapped oil field, warning that spiralling energy costs \u201crisk accelerating de-industrialisation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Make UK, the industry body behind Britain\u2019s manufacturers, is writing to the Energy Secretary to ask him to permit oil production at Rosebank, near Shetland. <\/p>\n

The field is estimated to contain between 300 million and 500 million barrels of oil. It also wants Mr Miliband to green light production at Jackdaw, a gas field east of Aberdeen. <\/p>\n

Make UK Chief Executive Stephen Phipson said: \u201cEnsuring the UK has access to its own energy reserves is now vital.\u201d Permission to drill both sites had been granted under the Conservatives, but the decisions were overturned by the Scottish Court of Session, on environmental grounds.<\/p>\n

Both now require fresh environmental assessments which must be signed off by the government. <\/p>\n

Mr Phipson\u2019s call comes as the Iran war continues to play havoc with the oil markets, sending costs soaring across the world. <\/p>\n

Mr Phipson said that industrial power prices in the UK are already the highest in Europe, four times higher than the US and 46 per cent above the global average. <\/p>\n

These come on top of a \u201cpile up of commercial burdens\u201d, including hefty employment costs and rising business rates, the organisation says. <\/p>\n

\"EdEd Miliband’s push for net zero is spiking energy bills | GETTY<\/p>\n

It points out that the costs of business were rising before the Middle East conflict and warns the war is \u201canother price shock that will threaten the long-term viability of British manufacturing. \u201cDrastic action is required to avoid de-industrialistion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr Phipson said: \u201cManufacturers are calling for the government to act quickly to progress with the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments to mitigate energy costs and energy security because of the conflict in the Middle East. Historically high industrial energy costs are already preventing growth in UK manufacturing. <\/p>\n

“The recent developments in the Middle East add huge pressures to the sector and risk accelerating de-industrialisation. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst manufacturers are leading the way in renewable energy we must ensure the sector survives in the medium term. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

New drilling in the North Sea has been banned<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsuring the UK has access to its own energy reserves is now vital.” <\/p>\n

Progressing work on the fields would \u201chelp safeguard energy security and mitigate rising energy costs\u201d, Make UK says, adding \u201cwe believe that progressing Roesbank and Jackdaw is the only viable short-term solution\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr Phipson points out that manufacturers \u201cremain committed to the value of net zero\u201d and said the push to progress oil and gas drilling \u201cmust be understood within the context of the current crisis\u201d. <\/p>\n

Make UK, which represents some 20,000 companies, warned: \u201cWithout decisive action to tackle the UK\u2019s industrial energy cost disadvantage there is a real risk that rising costs could accelerate de-industrialisation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis would undermine investment, weaken our industrial capacity and ultimately erode the manufacturing base that underpins the UK\u2019s national security.\u201d <\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe called for both North Sea schemes to be permitted. He said: \u201cProjects such as Jackdaw and Rosebank could provide secure domestic supply for decades. <\/p>\n

\u201cApproving them would send a signal that Britain is serious about energy security.\u201d <\/p>\n

But clean energy campaigners Uplift said opening up Rosebank would do nothing to lower costs for consumers. Tessa Khan, the executive director at Uplift, said: \u201cIf the conflict in Iran and soaring oil prices isn\u2019t enough to remind us of the financial pain from remaining hooked on fossil fuels, Rosebank is a rotten deal for the UK. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe rig was made in Dubai, not Scotland. The oil belongs in part to the Norwegians, who will take most of the profits. \u201cIt will do nothing to lower energy bills \u2013 it is predominantly oil for export \u2013 and the tiny amount of gas it contains is enough to reduce the UK\u2019s import dependency by just 1pc. It is oil for profit, at our expense.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Unite<\/p>\n

Unite has also criticised North Sea plans<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

Unite, one of the biggest unions in the UK, said blocking North Sea production was \u201csimply an act of monumental political self-harm”. <\/p>\n

It also joined calls to give the immediate go-ahead to the development of both Rosebank and Jackdaw. The union represents thousands of oil and gas workers. <\/p>\n

General secretary Sharon Graham said: \u201cThe government\u2019s position on oil and gas is putting jobs and national security at risk. \u201cBlocking oil and gas production in the North Sea, especially now is simply an act of monumental political self-harm. <\/p>\n

\u201cDomestic gas from Jackdaw and oil from Rosebank are essential for jobs and for energy security. \u201cWe cannot let go of one rope before we have hold of another. With energy and fuel bills set to rocket once again we need to stop offshoring our carbon responsibilities and fund a concrete plan for commensurate jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said: \u201cOur priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good long-term jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK manufacturers have urged Ed Miliband to approve drilling in the North Sea\u2019s largest untapped oil field, warning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,1344,50,229,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-475227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-energy","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}