Ed Miliband orders ban on new North Sea licences

UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has banned the award of new licences for exploration for oil.

The move was widely expected after Labour backed that position last year.

It will have a significant impact on Scotland as the majority of UK oil is in the North Sea.

Oil companies have previously warned that such a ban would negatively impact net zero ambitions as they still need the cash from oil and gas to fund the just transition.

But climate campaigners criticised Labour for not going far enough, as the party said it would not revoke any licences awarded before it entered office.

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak said he would award at least 100 new licences last year and also kick-started a process that would have seen new licences awarded annually.

But Miliband has confirmed the regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, will not to approve any new licences.

A spokesperson said: “We will not issue new licences to explore new fields. We will also not revoke existing oil and gas licences and will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.”

In his first address to the department on Monday, Miliband said one of his priorities was “creating good jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, including a just transition for the industries based in the North Sea”.

But the Scottish Conservatives have accused him of being “reckless”.

MP Andrew Bowie – a former energy minister who retained his West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine seat last week – has called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reverse the decision.

He said: “The new energy secretary is happy to turn off the taps in the North Sea and put tens of thousands of jobs at risk. His economic and environmentally illiterate policy of banning further exploration – which is supported by the SNP – is even opposed by his own officials.”

But the Scottish Greens, who have long called for an end to oil and gas exploration, said the UK Government must revoke licences awarded under the previous government.

While saying the ban was a “step in the right direction”, co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “We must also challenge the new energy secretary on Rosebank and other recent licences.

“If he really wants to tackle the climate emergency then he must now revoke the over 100 licences granted under the Tories, putting an end to these projects of environmental vandalism. Keeping these licences in place is simply incompatible with keeping the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.”

The Scottish Government is to set out its own policy on oil and gas shortly. It has been considering a presumption against new licences, though language around that has softened recently.

First Minister John Swinney said last month that oil and gas would still be required “for a period of time” and the awarding of new licences must be done on a case-by-case basis.