Liz Truss will dish out more than 100 new North Sea licences if she is chosen as the next Conservative leader, according to reports.
The Times newspaper says it would be among her first acts as prime minister, should she beat Rishi Sunak to the top job as expected.
It would form part of a long-term strategy to boost and safeguard the UK’s energy security, a key objective of governments following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
A shortage of power across Europe, driven in part by sanctions against the Kremlin, has sent commodity prices skywards.
A severe cost-of-living crisis has engulfed the UK, and it was revealed last week that annual household bills are due to rise to £3,549 from October.
Up to 130 new licenses
Senior allies of Truss are considering issuing up to 130 new North Sea drilling licenses, The Times is reporting, in response to the energy crisis.
The newspaper says the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, met with oil and gas firms in recent weeks to discuss how energy supplies can be secured with winter around the corner.
That could involve increasing imports of gas from Norway, the UK’s largest supplier, while also scaling up domestic supplies.
Any new licences would be subject to checkpoint tests to ensure they are in keeping with the UK’s climate change commitments.
Earlier this year, industry regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), confirmed plans to offer a new North Sea exploration round this year.
The UK North Sea still contains billions of barrels of oil and gas, locked away in fields such as Rosebank, Cambo and Jackdaw.
Retrieving remaining reserves could be tough though, with environmental groups rallying in recent months against ongoing extraction.
Objectors to the plans
Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: “Unleashing a North Sea drilling frenzy isn’t a plan to help bill payers but a gift to the fossil fuel giants already making billions from this crisis.
“New oil and gas could take a quarter of a century to pump out, will be eventually sold at global prices, and have no real impact on energy bills yet still fuel the climate crisis.
“Our gas dependence is what got us into this mess and doubling down on it won’t get us out of it.
“New renewables are nine times cheaper than gas. Turbo-charging renewables and fixing our energy-wasting homes by investing in insulation is the quickest way to reduce our gas dependence and bring energy bills under control.
“If Liz Truss really wants to help cash-strapped households, she should bring in an energy bill freeze alongside extra financial support for the poorest households, partly funded by properly taxing the astronomical profits of oil and gas companies.”
