The Tories plan to force a vote to open up the North Sea after the Government confirmed that new licences would be banned.
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said her party would table an amendment to last week’s King’s Speech “to back our own energy resources in the North Sea”.
As well as demanding new licences are issued, the Conservatives will be calling for Ed Miliband to approve applications for drilling to restart at Rosebank, Britain’s largest untapped oil field, and Jackdaw, a gas field.
Work at both has been paused following legal challenges on climate grounds. The final decision rests with the Energy Secretary.
The Government announced its Energy Independence Bill in the King’s Speech.
Notes confirmed that this would include the ban on new licences, for climate reasons. But Ms Coutinho claimed that the bill would “wilfully shut down our oil and gas industry in the North Sea”.
Promising to challenge the bill, she said: “The Conservatives will table an amendment to the King’s Speech to back our own energy resources in the North Sea and approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas field applications that have been seat on Ed Miliband’s desk for months.”
She said: “The Conservatives are clear. We have to back the North Sea for our energy security.”
She added: “It’s not just our oil and gas sector which is under stress. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz means we may face shortages in refined products like jet fuel in the coming months.”
Andrew Bowie, Tory MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, said on X: “The situation in the North Sea is mad!
“That’s why this week we will force a vote to change course and get Britain drilling.
“We Conservatives will force a vote in Parliament urging Labour to drop its ban on new oil and gas licences.”
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In its 2024 manifesto, Labour promised "we will not issue new licenses 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".
Briefing notes about the speech confirmed the Government intended to “show climate leadership by meeting the manifesto commitment not to issue new licences to explore new fields, including delivering the commitment to ban fracking”.
The North Sea has become an increasingly fraught issue with a number of voices calling for a change of course.
These include Unite the union, which has launched a “no ban without a plan” campaign, intended to “keep the North Sea working”.
General Secretary Sharon Graham has said the country will need oil and gas “for decades to come” and said the sector was losing jobs unnecessarily.
She said: “North Sea workers are losing their jobs, at a time when the need for domestic oil and gas has never been greater.
"This government must not let go of one rope before having hold of another.”
Manufacturing trade body Make UK has called for drilling to restart at Rosebank and Jackdaw, and former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair’s think tank has also demanded a change of approach.
Mr Miliband has said that the bill would help him deliver his clean power “mission”.
He said: “After the second fossil fuel crisis in half a decade, our clean power mission is the only way to bring down bills for good and take back control of our energy.
“The Energy Independence Bill is the next step in delivering on our mission – giving us the power we need to drive forward with clean power to cut bills, support families out of fuel poverty and deliver well-paid secure jobs for a generation of young people.”
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has said that more North Sea drilling would not lower bills, because prices are set on the international market.
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