Reports indicate that Ed Miliband is likely to support a North Sea oil and gasfield initiative, despite his firm commitment to making Net Zero a key focus of the Labour government’s agenda.
As the Net Zero secretary, Miliband faces mounting pressure to lift the ban on North Sea exploration, a situation intensified by the impact of the conflict in Iran on energy resources.
After delaying a decision for nearly two years on the Jackdaw gasfield, located 150 miles from Aberdeen, insiders at Whitehall now suggest Miliband is leaning towards approving the project.
According to The Times, the 51-year-old politician no longer considers the gasfield at odds with the government’s environmental goals, especially after Rachel Reeves expressed her approval of North Sea drilling.
If the go-ahead is given, the Jackdaw project could provide gas to over a million homes in the UK, contributing around six percent of the nation’s total gas supply.
However, Miliband reportedly holds a different stance on the Rosebank gasfield, which is predominantly oil-rich. He previously described any drilling at Rosebank as tantamount to ‘climate vandalism.’
No formal decision is expected to be announced over either project until next month’s Scottish elections while the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning continues its assessment.
Sir Keir Starmer has so far refused to comment publicly on the debate over whether to expand into the North Sea.
Ed Miliband is reportedly set to back the first major North Sea oil and gasfield project despite insisting that Net Zero is a ‘central mission’ of the Labour government
A file picture of an oil platform in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland
A cargo ship is pictured in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran’s stranglehold on the pass-through continues
It comes as pressure mounts on the government over rising energy and gas prices caused by Iran’s stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
Donald Trump told the UK to ‘get your own oil’ earlier this week and Tony Blair’s think-tank and British Gas have all supported an expansion of operations in the North Sea.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has launched a ‘get Britain drilling’ campaign, while Reform also backs more action.
Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar also pushed Miliband to approve the expansion plan. Asked whether he believes the Net Zero Secretary is doing a good job, Sarwar said: ‘Yes, but there’s work to do.’
The Scottish National Party has pushed for ‘climate compatibility tests’ on new oil and gas licences, but First Minister John Swinney said he now believed that assessment should include energy security.
‘There’s been much greater uncertainty about energy security as a result of what I would consider to be an illegal intervention in Iran and all the chaos that’s been created as a consequence,’ he said.
‘So I think the dynamics of that change as a consequence.
‘What I’m saying to you is I think we’ve got to look at the geo-political situation that we now face and recognise that we are experiencing much greater risk to our energy security as a consequence of what’s happening there.’
The First Minister said he was ‘wholly committed’ to renewable energy, but added that there would need to be oil and gas for years to come.
‘I think that context changes the balance of argument,’ he said.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney said he was ‘wholly committed’ to renewable energy while speaking in Glasgow on Wednesday
‘What we’ve always said in all of our communications about oil and gas is that there must be a climate compatibility assessment undertaken… and secondly, we must be very, very mindful of the issues on security of supply, which is now in a more perilous position than if we were having this conversation four weeks ago.’
Mr Swinney said he had to be ‘very mindful of the issues on security of supply’ and if domestic production was ‘less carbon intensive’ then it should be ‘preferred’.
Asked if she supports North Sea drilling in a BBC interview yesterday, Ms Reeves said: ‘I’m very happy that we are. The North Sea oil and gas (will) play an important role in our energy mix for years to come, and we’re very lucky to have that resource and to be able to continue to use that resource.
‘If we’re going to get ourselves off of this rollercoaster of gas and oil prices, of course, we want to move to something that we have control over.’
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said Mr Swinney was only pretending to change position as an election tactic.
‘These workers, and industry leaders, will now question whether his throwaway comments on a podcast are a genuine U-turn or whether it’s just cynical, pre-election SNP spin.
‘Will he now unequivocally back our plans to get drilling to protect jobs, bring down bills and build our energy security?
‘It seems he’s trying to dupe the oil and gas industry by hinting at new-found support, while simultaneously pandering to the extremist Greens.’
