PM announces new North Sea licences
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave the green light to new oil and gas licenses for the North Sea on Monday, as the government intends to bolster energy security, reduce reliance on “hostile states”, and create jobs.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) regulator is expected to grant the first of over 100 licenses towards the end of the year.
He also announced new support for two carbon capture and storage clusters in Scotland and northern England, insisting that plans to grant licenses remain “entirely consistent” with the government’s net zero goals.
“Even when we’ve reached net-zero in 2050, a quarter of our energy needs will come from oil and gas,” Sunak said in a statement. “But there are those who would rather that it come from hostile states than from the supplies we have here at home.”
Below is the announcement’s accompanying Twitter thread:
Sunak also claims that utilising North Sea reserves will help people across the UK lowering the cost of oil and gas prices.
However, back in February, Conservative Party Chairman Greg Hands posted a thread of ‘mythbusters’ around the UK’s energy plans, which included the claim that extracting more North Sea gas would not lower prices.
Overall, plans have highlighted a political divide, with Sunak coming under fire by climate activists who largely lean left, as well deep criticism from within Scotland which has reignited questions around independence and the right to protect its energy reserves. Right-leaning publications stand behind the plans, opting for a pro-jobs angle, and focusing on the carbon capture project.
First, the BBC was criticised by pro-independence outlets after it surfaced that an article written in 2014 claimed that the UK’s oil and gas reserves could run out in 5 years – only to then publish articles about the future of North Sea oil. The push of this narrative that dates back almost 10 years, and subsequent support for Sunak’s plans, raises question around the BBC’s alleged long-standing maintenance of a pro-unionist bias against the Scottish government, and Scotland in general.
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- It is worth noting that in 2018, following the Brexit referendum, The Telegraph also ran a comment column titled, “North Sea oil can still be the bargaining chip we need”.
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