EurOil: UK unveils plan to bolster energy security

The UK government has unveiled a new energy policy paper aimed at bolstering the country’s energy security in the face of soaring gas and power prices and Europe’s push to phase out Russian energy.

In the run-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last autumn, the government announced a number of ambitious targets to decarbonise industries and scale up renewables and other low-carbon technologies. Less attention was paid to energy affordability and security, even as energy prices began climbing during the latter half of last year, following a sharp rebound in energy demand post-pandemic, and constraints with global supply.

With UK households bracing themselves to pay much larger energy bills, however, the government is shifting gears, prioritising an expansion in domestic energy supply, including oil and gas.

In its policy paper, the government said it would resume offshore oil and gas licensing, which had been put on hold in 2019 pending a review of whether policies were in line with the UK’s climate goals. The country still has 7.9bn barrels of oil and 560bn cubic metres of natural gas in its remaining reserves, Whitehall said, and these resources can be used to replace imports, which are potentially more expensive and have a higher carbon footprint. The government also noted that the North Sea industry stood ready to invest billions in the development of technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS). 

In addition, the government said it would set up “Gas and Oil New Project Regulatory Accelerators” to fast-track new hydrocarbon developments by potentially up to years. At the same time, the UK will continue investing in offshore electrification, to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the industry.

If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor.