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A North Sea industry body has written to every Labour MP calling for more domestic oil and gas production, timing its appeal to the arrival of Andy Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister within days. The letter from Offshore Energies UK, co-signed by a range of business organisations and the GMB and RMT unions, argues that backing the basin is a matter of jobs, energy security and industrial capability, and was presented to MPs in London by offshore workers and apprentices after an industry summit.
The argument
OEUK, which represents almost 500 companies across oil, gas and offshore wind, frames its case around import dependence. Chief executive David Whitehouse writes that the UK now imports more than 40 per cent of the energy it needs while leaving its own resources in the ground, and that with oil and gas still supplying around three-quarters of UK energy, it makes little sense to favour imports over domestic production. The letter stresses that this is not a call for higher consumption, but for more of what the country uses to be produced at home, pointing to a carbon footprint it says is up to four times lower than imported liquefied natural gas.
The letter contrasts UK policy with Norway, which it notes issued 57 new oil and gas licences in January under a centre-left government, and warns of what it calls a second wave of deindustrialisation, citing a 40 per cent fall in UK chemicals production and the closure of two of the country’s six remaining refineries.
The asks
Three specific requests sit at the centre of the letter. OEUK wants the government to accelerate the introduction of the Oil and Gas Price Mechanism to replace the Energy Profits Levy, the windfall tax on producers; to allow critical new projects to proceed; and to provide what it calls a functioning regulatory regime. It argues these changes would unlock more than £13 billion of additional tax revenue over the next decade. GMB general secretary Gary Smith backed the appeal, framing secure domestic energy supply as increasingly important in an uncertain world.
Where the debate stands
Labour was elected on a pledge not to issue licences for new oil and gas fields, though it committed not to revoke existing ones. A UK government spokesperson responded that oil and gas would be needed for decades and that existing fields would be managed for their lifespan, but that new exploration licences could not deliver energy security or cut bills, and pointed to plans to make the North Sea a clean energy hub supporting up to 40,000 jobs in Scotland by 2030. Campaign groups opposed to new drilling, including Uplift, argue that new fields will do little for energy security and that the priority should be a faster shift to renewables and support for households to move away from fossil fuels. Industry observers say how the incoming government weighs these arguments, particularly on the tax regime and any new fields, will shape investment decisions across the basin.
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