Kemi Badenoch: SNP and Labour war on new North Sea drilling just 'madness'

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 21:12, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 21:12, 4 June 2026 Kemi Badenoch has blasted the ‘utter madness’ of opposing new North Sea drilling after a study confirmed massive untapped resources off Shetland. The Conservative leader said it ‘defies belief’ Labour and the SNP are still snubbing the wealth and jobs available in pursuit of Net Zero. Ahead of campaigning in the Aberdeen South by-election, she urged voters to back her party and send a message to the Nationalists and Labour ‘their war on oil and gas must end’. Friday’s visit comes after researchers at the University of Aberdeen this week estimated almost five billion barrels of oil and gas remain untapped west of Shetland. The area includes the potential Rosebank oil field, which has yet to have its production licence approved by the UK Government. Mrs Badenoch said: ‘It defies belief that Labour and the SNP won’t drill our own oil and gas in the North Sea when independent reports have found there are billions of barrels lying untapped. ‘The University of Aberdeen survey just demonstrates the utter madness of the stance taken by Keir Starmer and John Swinney. ‘Domestic oil and gas are vital to the nation’s energy security, as well as being the economic lifeblood of the North East. ‘Yet the industry is on its knees due to the windfall tax and the ban on new developments. The Conservatives would scrap both immediately.’ Kemi Badenoch has criticised those who oppose new North Sea drilling Conservative leader Badenoch will be campaigning in the Aberdeen South by-election She added: ‘The Aberdeen South by-election is a referendum on the future of oil and gas – and voters know that the Conservatives will always have workers’ backs. Only Douglas Lumsden, who worked in the oil and gas industry, can beat the SNP. By voting for Douglas, voters can send a clear message to the Nationalists and Labour that their war on oil and gas must end.’ Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said: ‘People know Kemi is a champion of our oil and gas sector, which is on life support due to Labour and SNP opposition to new drilling. This contest is a straight fight between the Scottish Conservatives and the SNP – and voting for any other party risks the sleazy Nationalists winning by default. ‘That’s what happened in the corresponding Holyrood seat, when the pro-UK vote split. We can’t let that happen again.’ The Aberdeen study said there was a ‘widespread misconception’ about the UK’s offshore energy resources that underestimated the scale of the reserves left to extract. Although North Sea production is in ‘long-term decline’, it noted ‘significant untapped potential’ remains west of Shetland. The academics called for the creation of a ‘tailored tax regime’ for the area to encourage investment and boost the development of new fields. In the King’s Speech last month, Labour confirmed it was sticking to its manifesto pledge not to issue licences to explore oil and gas fields. Russell Findlay has backed Kemi Badenoch and supports her position on drilling The SNP’s position in its 2023 draft energy strategy is for a ‘presumption against’ new fields and the prioritisation of renewables. Nick Schofield, professor of igneous and petroleum geology at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘West of Shetland is not a depleted frontier – it is a technically demanding but strategically important energy province. ‘A bespoke licensing regime tied to existing infrastructure would provide a pragmatic pathway to unlock value while maintaining environmental and economic responsibility.’ SNP candidate Richard Thomson said: 'The Tories’ legacy in Aberdeen is thousands of oil and gas jobs lost thanks to the Tories’ tax on our energy. “Cleary we should prioritise domestic supply over carbon intensive imports and we should never find ourselves weakening sanctions on Russian oil like Westminster has done.' A UK Government spokesman said: 'Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and will not take a penny off bills. 'The lesson of yet another fossil fuel crisis is the UK needs to get off the fossil fuel rollercoaster and onto clean homegrown power we control.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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