Andy Burnham to make new North Sea drilling illegal

Andy Burnham is poised to ban drilling for new oil and gas in the UK to end exploration in the North Sea. The Prime Minister has backed an energy bill that would put into law a permanent prohibition on new drilling, a move to make it harder for ministers to reverse the ban in future. Energy exploration in the UK is subject to the temporary moratorium originally imposed by Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, but this could be lifted by a future energy secretary.

Mr Burnham is now supporting new laws being introduced by Mr Miliband’s successor, Miatta Fahnbulleh, that would make it harder to reopen the North Sea. Repealing the proposed new law would need a parliamentary majority. The Government said the energy independence bill would deliver on its “pragmatic approach to the North Sea, by ending new licences to explore new oil and gas fields while supporting continued production from existing licensed areas”.

If approved by Parliament, the new laws would allow oil companies to keep operating existing licensed oil and gas fields until they are depleted. But they would be able to drill new wells only if they could be connected to existing infrastructure by subsea pipelines known as tiebacks. The move follows the approval last month of the Jackdaw gas field, which operates under an existing licence and uses a tieback to pump gas into established pipelines.

Labour is yet to make a decision on the giant Rosebank oil field , west of Shetland, which also has an existing licence. Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have pledged to restart North Sea exploration and drilling were they to win power. Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, criticised Mr Burnham’s plans warning: “Labour’s so-called energy independence bill will only make Britain more dependent on oil and gas imports. Labour might as well hang a ‘closed for business’ sign over our North Sea.”

The legislation honours Labour’s 2024 manifesto pledge, which stated: “We will not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis. In addition, we will not grant new coal licences and will ban fracking for good.” Some energy insiders and investors disagree, including Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group. David Bucknall, the head of subsidiary Ineos Energy, which has a raft of North Sea assets, said: “The Government’s legislation to ban new drilling in the North Sea would actively decrease energy security in the UK.

“Leaving existing resources in the ground at home while we import the same resources from abroad makes our energy autonomy a victim of global instability.” Analyst Ashley Kelty, from Panmure Liberum, said: “This bill just highlights the lunacy of net zero dogma. “It’s risible that they try to say that it’s pragmatic to stop the UK producing more oil and gas. It’s clearly a reaction to poor polling against the Greens. I see this as more vibe driven policy making as opposed to ‘pragmatic’ policy making.”

Dan Slater, from Zeus Capital, said: “While banning new exploration licences via legislation makes resumption a more circuitous process, the logic for new licences is inescapable, and parliament is sovereign and fully has the power to reverse the new ban.” David Whitehouse, the chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, a trade body for Britain’s oil and gas producers, said the planned bill would simply make the UK more dependent on imported oil and gas.

“This will leave households and businesses exposed in an increasingly volatile world. We should be making the most of the energy we produce here at home rather than relying on imports.”