{"id":491999,"date":"2026-03-24T04:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/491999\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T04:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T04:48:09","slug":"uk-must-back-north-sea-oil-and-gas-drilling-says-trade-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/491999\/","title":{"rendered":"UK must back North Sea oil and gas drilling, says trade body"},"content":{"rendered":"

Currently, developers can only increase production in areas that are already part of an existing licensed field, or adjacent to them, to ensure they remain viable. <\/p>\n

OEUK also wants the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) – otherwise known as the windfall tax – to be scrapped in 2026 which would be four years earlier than planned.<\/p>\n

It would be replaced by the so-called Oil and Gas Price Mechanism, which would impose a 35% tax when oil and gas prices breached a certain level. Under the current windfall tax energy companies must pay 78%. <\/p>\n

It said this would unlock \u00a350bn of new investment in UK oil and gas.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Conservative Party will use its Opposition Day debate in parliament to call for an end to the EPL and the ban on new oil and gas licences.<\/p>\n

It also wants the government to approve two new Scottish oil and gas fields<\/a> – after a court blocked the move last year. <\/p>\n

The written judgement on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields came after a case brought by environmental campaigners, Uplift and Greenpeace, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

The court ruled that the developers had failed to properly assess the likely environmental impact and ordered them to seek fresh approval. <\/p>\n

Claire Coutinho, shadow secretary of state for energy security, said: “Turning our backs on domestic gas that could heat millions of homes would be madness in normal times, but it is sheer lunacy in the midst of a gas supply crisis.”<\/p>\n

But researchers at the University of Oxford have disputed claims, external<\/a> the UK could significantly lower its energy bills by extracting more of its own oil and gas. <\/p>\n

They found that even if the UK maximised North Sea extraction and returned revenues directly to households, the cost savings would be far smaller than those expected from accelerating the shift to renewable energy. <\/p>\n

Mel Evans, head of climate at Greenpeace UK, said: “The [oil and gas] industry does have billions of reasons to want the UK to cut their taxes and license more drilling.<\/p>\n

“While it wouldn’t take a penny off energy bills or petrol prices, it would maximise the potential oil and gas revenue during an oil war, when prices spike and fossil fuel companies can profiteer more than ever.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Currently, developers can only increase production in areas that are already part of an existing licensed field, or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-491999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491999","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=491999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}