Government moves awarding a new round of licences to companies exploring for oil and gas in the North Sea will mean that the UK will fail to meet its carbon budget, despite being described by a minister as "good for the environment”.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has opened the first oil and gas licensing round in nearly three years, which is expected to lead to the awarding of around 100 permits to energy companies by the middle of next year. It is targeting four areas in the southern part of the North Sea where gas has already been discovered and that are close to existing infrastructure.
The move aims to boost UK energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prime minister Liz Truss told the Conservative Party conference last week. Climate minister Graham Stuart told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: “It’s good for the environment, because when we burn our own gas it's got lower emissions around its production than foreign gas. So you really can be assured that it's actually – I know it sounds contradictory – but it's actually good for the environment that we are going to produce more of our gas and oil at home."
Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that catalogues worldwide fossil fuel and renewable energy projects, argues that the emissions from the new licences will mean that the UK will fail to meet its carbon budget for 2023–37. Its analysis, Hooked on Hydrocarbons: The UK’s risky addiction to North Sea oil and gas development at odds with climate goals, considered the potential lifetime emissions of the 21 largest UK North Sea oil and gas fields that are likely to reach final investment decisions or receive development consent within the next three years. These would emit 920m tonnes of carbon, it revealed – more than twice the level of Thailand’s national annual emissions.
The organisation warns that emissions would likely be twice as high as the levels needed to stay within the carbon budget, and that many of the new projects approved in the next year would still be in operation in the by the mid-2050s, undermining decarbonisation efforts for decades to come.
