Efficacy of new oil and gas licenses in doubt ahead of key MPs bill debate
Nearly two thousand new UK oil and gas licenses have seen production plummet and exports spike, according to new research released days before MPs are set to debate the controversial Oil Petroleum Licensing Bill.
Figures from environmental campaign group Global Witness show that between 2004 and 2023, UK oil production plummeted by 60 per cent, despite the government awarding 1,680 new exploration licenses during the period.
The charity also shows that what little oil was coming through the production line was increasingly likely to be shipped overseas, with oil and gas exports rising over the same period from 68 per cent to 81 per cent.
The findings come as the government’s Offshore Petroleum Licensing (OPL) Bill, which would authorise annual license awards, will be debated by parliament on Monday 22nd January.
Ministers have previously defended the bill by arguing that oil extracted from UK waters will reduce the amount that will be imported.
Former energy minister Chris Skidmore, who led a government-commissioned review on net zero, resigned earlier this month over the bill, saying he regrets that the future use of fossil fuels has become “politicised”.
Today, a group of Northern mayors have penned an open letter to energy minister Claire Coutinho calling for the bill to be canned.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, called the bill “a distraction from investing in the future of communities across the north of England” and “a complete insult”.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said the legislation “marks a screeching U-turn away from commitments at Cop28”, where countries agreed to move away from fossil fuels for the first time in the conference’s nearly 30-year history.
In an opinion piece penned for BusinessGreen this week, former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas described the bill as “a political stunt that will harm the UK’s ability to push for high climate ambition on an international stage”.
Labour has proposed to ban new exploration licences and focus on renewable energy if it takes power.