North Sea can still fuel 20m cars to 2030, claim experts as Tories call for 'sheer lunacy' of UK Government over oil and gas to end

By TOM GORDON, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 20:40, 8 June 2026 | Updated: 20:40, 8 June 2026 Unlocking fresh investment in the North Sea could supply the fuel for 20 million cars until the end of the decade, a new analysis has found. The Scottish Conservatives said it showed the ‘sheer lunacy’ of current UK Government hostility to oil and gas and accused ministers of driving the industry ‘into extinction’. Douglas Lumsden, Tory candidate in this month’s Aberdeen South by-election, has written to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband urging him to ditch his ‘ludicrous’ approach. He also invited him to visit the city to see the ‘devastation’ he is causing and wrote: ‘Banning licences only increases our reliance on imports, threatens jobs and pushes up prices.’ Labour’s manifesto pledge to ban new exploration licences ‘could be the final nail in the coffin for many businesses and with it Aberdeen’s economy,’ Mr Lumsden warned. North Sea operators have told ministers they could invest £17.5billion in new oil and gas projects if the 78 per cent windfall tax is replaced with a fairer scheme. Offshore Energies UK said it could unlock around 1.1billion barrels of oil and gas by 2030. Analysis from the University of Aberdeen said that could yield 8.2 billion litres of jet fuel – enough for a million flights from London to Spain – plus 62.6 billion litres of petrol and 45.3 billion litres of diesel, enough to power 20 million UK cars to 2030. Offshore Energies UK said it could unlock around 1.1billion barrels of oil and gas by 2030 Kemi Badenoch joins Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay (second from left) and Conservative Party candidate for Aberdeen South Douglas Lumsden (right) during a visit to Aberdeen Mr Lumsden said: ‘This new analysis highlights the sheer lunacy of Labour and the SNP’s war on oil and gas production. The North Sea could be securing billions for our economy, yet Keir Starmer and John Swinney’s opposition to new drilling, coupled with Labour’s refusal to ditch the windfall tax, is costing 1,000 jobs a month.’ Professor John Underhill, Director for Energy Transition at University of Aberdeen, said: ‘Energy security is not simply about producing oil and gas. It is also about maintaining the industrial capability needed to turn those resources into the fuels society depends upon.’ A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: ‘Our clean power mission will create the next generation of skilled jobs, including over 40,000 clean energy roles in Scotland by 2030.’ 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. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.