Energy security secretary Grant Shapps has insisted granting “every single conceivable licence” for North Sea oil and gas would be within the UK’s net-zero targets.
In a report in the Financial Times, Mr Shapps said the UK Government would “max out” the region’s oil and gas reserves.
Carbon emissions will still decline at “twice the rate” outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he claimed.
Britain should approve all feasible oil and gas fields in its own waters, as long as projects fall within the country’s climate targets, he said.
Labour’s oil and gas plan ‘madness’
He added: “The IPCC, the global authority on this, says that to meet net zero by 2050 the world needs to reduce its reliance on oil and gas by 4% a year. Even if we granted every single conceivable licence to the North Sea… the (UK’s oil production]) would decline at 7% a year, twice the rate of the IPCC [recommendations].”
Mr Shapps also criticised Labour’s stance on North Sea oil and gas licensing, calling its plan to ban undeveloped fields as “madness”. It “simply doesn’t make sense,” he added.
It would leave the UK dependent on imports from overseas that produce many more carbon emissions than producing hydrocarbons domestically, he said in the FT report.
He warned Labour’s policy would put the UK at the mercy of “Putin or anyone else who wants to hold us to ransom”.
Mr Shapps continued: “What Labour foolishly and irresponsibly want to do is deliberately pursue a policy of self-harm by not taking that (North Sea) oil and gas but buying it from abroad.”
Labour recently insisted its policy was to “manage our existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan” and not just “turn off the taps by revoking existing licences”.
Last week, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn warned an early shutdown of UK North Sea oil and gas would lead to Scottish jobs moving overseas.
The Aberdeen South MP described the debate around oil and gas as “very polarised”.