Boris Johnson ‘to give go-ahead’ for North Sea oil and gas projects

The UK government is preparing to announce new drilling in the North Sea for the first time in three years, as Europe faces soaring energy costs compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move comes after Boris Johnson said on Monday that the UK may have to increase its output of oil and gas in order to reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels.

Currently, around 1–3 per cent of the UK’s gas comes from Russia.

At a press conference, the prime minister said: “One of the things we are looking at is the possibility of using more of our own hydrocarbons."

According to The Times, ministers are hoping to announce exploration licences and are also looking for regulators to give the go-ahead to “field development plans” for up to six North Sea oil and gas projects.

But with project lead times taking an average of 28 years to begin production, Mr Johnson’s push for new oil and gas faces opposition both from inside his cabinet and from scientists, energy experts and campaigners outside.

Last year, the International Energy Agency warned ​​there is no place for new fossil fuel projects if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said in a Twitter thread last week that in any case increasing North Sea output or starting fracking would have no impact on the current price of energy. And the UK ultimately needed to "move away from gas".

He said: "The UK has no gas supply issues. The situation we are facing is a price issue, not a security of supply issue. Put simply: we have lots of gas from highly diverse and secure sources – but it is very expensive."

He added: "We back North Sea production. Good for jobs, energy security, tax revenue to fund public services, and kick-starting a hydrogen economy and CCUS.

"However, additional North Sea production won’t materially affect the wholesale price (certainly not anytime soon).

He added: "This includes fracking – UK producers won’t sell shale gas to UK consumers below the market price. They’re not charities."

Rosie Rogers, head of energy at Greenpeace UK, said: “This is Boris Johnson’s moment of abject failure to rise to the challenge. Today the EU announced more renewables and efficiency to cut fossil fuel demand, but Johnson is stuck on the stale old approach of pushing hydrocarbon supplies.

“New licences will take 28 years to start production, the gas won’t belong to the UK but to the companies who extract it, and it will be sold on global markets at the highest possible price.

“Meanwhile in the short term we’ll keep sending £6m per day to Putin in gas money, while British people’s bills continue to skyrocket.

“This plan is inadequate, wrongheaded and foolish. Johnson and Sunak alike seem completely [uninterested] in tackling energy demand. We need a race for renewables, heat pumps and home insulation to isolate Putin.”

Meanwhile, polling from Opinium conducted for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that a majority (59 per cent) of people are willing to pay extra on energy bills if it helps undermine Russia’s war in Ukraine, with only 24 per cent not.

At today’s level of demand and wholesale gas price, the UK would spend £2.3bn on Russian gas in a year, equivalent to £6.3m per day, if it continues to import that amount of gas from Russia.

Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, Head of Analysis at the ECIU said: “Brits are willing to chip in to get the UK off Russian gas and see net zero policies as the solution, which means expanding British renewables and insulating homes so they waste less energy.

"More gas won’t bring down the energy bills of those struggling to pay, but insulation can and does so permanently.”

The Independent has contacted the government for comment.