For Donald Trump, the North Sea is a “treasure chest” of oil and gas reserves that the UK is failing to exploit due to what he calls punitive taxation. Nigel Farage of Reform UK shares this view, arguing that Britain is needlessly holding back growth.
Ahead of an energy conference in Aberdeen, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to pledge a reversal of Labour’s ban on new oil and gas licences, promising to “maximise the extraction of our oil and gas”.
The issue has sparked renewed scrutiny over how the UK balances job security in oil-producing regions with its climate commitments. The government maintains that new exploration licences would not reduce bills, improve energy security, or align with climate targets.
Industry groups, however, argue that existing infrastructure could be better used through “tiebacks”, connecting new discoveries to current oil and gas hubs. Research from Westwood Global Energy suggests most of the remaining resources lie close to these hubs and could be developed more cost-effectively under a friendlier fiscal and regulatory regime.
Lobby group OEUK claims that with reforms, the UK could produce 6 to 7 billion barrels of oil equivalent between now and 2050, far more than the 3.8 billion currently projected. Still, government officials warn these figures are overly optimistic.
The North Sea is one of the most expensive regions for extraction, due to harsh conditions and high decommissioning costs. Oil majors have already shifted investments elsewhere. Climate campaigners argue that expanding fossil fuel production would delay the transition to renewables and undermine the UK’s climate goals.
The debate is particularly focused on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, where regulators must weigh potential economic benefits against environmental consequences. Campaign groups insist that approving these projects would be incompatible with Britain’s climate targets, even if they provide a significant share of domestic oil in the next decade.
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