Commodities
Home›Commodities›Energy›North Sea oil groups urge UK Labour leader Andy Burnha…
North Sea oil groups urge UK Labour leader Andy Burnham to approve drilling
The industry letter asks MPs to back additional North Sea drilling to support UK manufacturing and skilled jobs, while the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects remain in limbo.
British North Sea oil and gas industry groups have urged Labour MPs to back approval of more drilling in UK waters as Andy Burnham is expected to become prime minister, setting the stage for a potential reset of how the North Sea transition is managed. According to the Guardian Economics, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) led the outreach, with its letter to more than 400 Labour MPs co-signed by over 10 industry-linked business groups and the GMB trade union.
The groups argue that moving toward a secure, lower-carbon energy system would be “stronger and fairer” with an “all-energy approach” that leverages existing industrial strengths rather than sidelining them, and they framed the request around commitments to UK manufacturing, industrial capability, and skilled workforce development.
The article notes that Labour has faced questions over the fate of two major North Sea projects, Rosebank and Jackdaw, which have stayed unresolved since Labour took power under the promise to ban new exploration licences, despite the projects having been granted licences by the previous government.