Drill North Sea now and bring down bills, Conservatives say

• Conservatives to force vote on approving drilling in Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea Oil Fields as well as scrapping the Energy Profits Levy

• Energy Bills up by £73 since Labour came to office.

• Adopting Conservatives' ‘Cheap Power Plan' would cut electricity bills by 20 per cent. 

The Conservative Party will today [Tuesday 24th March] use its Opposition Day debate to demand urgent action to secure Britain's energy future by scrapping the Energy Profits Levy, ending the ban on new oil and gas licences and approving the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.

Oil and Gas exploration in the North Sea supports 200,000 skilled jobs across the UK and generates billions in tax revenue. Without action to safeguard our Energy Security the UK could be importing as much as 82 per cent of its gas by 2035, leaving billpayers vulnerable to shifts in oil price.

Meanwhile major projects to unlock energy security like Rosebank and Jackdaw – which are both at advanced stages of construction and could bring production within months – are languishing whilst the Government drags its regulatory heels, refusing to act to allow them to continue after court challenges. Other projects such as Cambo are paralysed by the knock-on legal uncertainty, leaving our North Sea currently a far from attractive investment prospect.  

At a time of heightened global instability, including the ongoing war in Iran, the Conservatives continue to argue that domestic energy production is more important than ever to build a Stronger Economy and a Stronger Country.

The debate will mean the SNP will finally have an opportunity to take a clear stance on North Sea jobs ahead of May's Scottish Parliament elections while giving Labour backbenchers the opportunity to demonstrate whether they support British workers and energy security or Ed Miliband's eco zealotry.

The Conservatives stand on the side of common sense, and putting the national interest first – knowing that securing a domestic energy supply is the only way to lower bills and end foreign resilience and risks of energy shocks. Key industry bodies such as Renewables, worker's unions such as GMB and even Tony Blair have all set out the need to drill the North Sea, leaving Starmer and Miliband stood alone in their Net Zero zealotry.

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy Security, Claire Coutinho MP, said:

“Turning our backs on domestic gas that could heat millions of homes would be madness in normal times, but it is sheer lunacy in the midst of a gas supply crisis.

“We must fast-track Rosebank and Jackdaw and lift the onerous bans and taxes on the North Sea to back Britain's energy security. [Today] Labour MPs have the chance to show they will put the national interest over Ed Miliband's zealotry.”

The Conservatives have a clear alternative to Labour's failed energy polices through our Cheap Power Plan, which will cut electricity bills by 20 per cent by axing the Carbon Tax and scrapping Miliband's old renewable subsidies to build a stronger economy.

With energy bills rising by £73 since Labour took office, this Opposition Day debate offers an opportunity for opposition parties to back our plan which supports British energy, strengthens national security and delivers for working families.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The Conservatives oil and gas motion will read:

‘That this House calls on the Government to remove the Energy Profits Levy, end the ban on new oil and gas licences and approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields to increase secure domestic energy supply; recognises that the North Sea provides half of the UK's gas supply, supports 200,000 skilled jobs across the UK and generates billions of pounds in tax revenue; further recognises that three quarters of the UK's energy needs are met by oil and gas, that the UK will continue to use oil and gas for decades, and that the North Sea is the UK's most secure and lowest-carbon source of oil and gas; notes that without action to make the sector more investable, the UK risks importing 82% of its gas by 2035 at higher cost and with higher emissions;  and further notes that independent analysis by Stifel shows that the Energy Profits Levy will cost the Treasury more than it raises and that reforming it would generate an additional £25 billion in tax revenues within ten years.'

Labour are shutting down the North Sea, despite it providing tens of thousands of jobs and billions in tax:

• Labour will not issue new North Sea oil and gas licences in an attempt to show ‘climate leadership'. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's North Sea Future Plan said: ‘Our commitment to not issue new licences to explore new fields responds to that obligation, demonstrating global climate leadership consistent with the science on limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5^oC^' (DESNZ, North Sea Future Plan, 26 November 2025, link).

• Labour scrapped the investment allowance and banned new oil and gas, calling time on the industry and its tax receipts. Labour banned new oil and gas licences and, at Autumn Budget 2024, scrapped the investment allowance, reducing investment and receipts by billions. Stifel, an investment bank, has predicted that tapering down the EPL by 2027 would raise an additional £1-2 billion per year in tax revenue, rising to a total of £25 billion cumulatively across 2030-35 (Stifel, Written Evidence, January 2026, link).

Both gas and electricity bills are increasing under Labour:

• The energy price cap has increased by £73 since Labour came to power, despite their promise to cut bills by £300.The energy price cap for July to September 2024 was £1,568 compared to £1,641for April to June 2026, a £73 increase (Ofgem, Energy Price Cap, accessed 7 August 2025, link).

• Cornwall Insight has forecast that the energy price cap for July to September could increase to £1,973, a £332 increase from the cap for April to June. Cornwall Insight have forecast that the Default Tariff Cap forecast will be £1,972.53 for July to September 2026, a £332 increase from the price cap of April to June 2026 of £1,641 (Cornwall Insight, Predictions & Insights into the Default Tariff Cap, 20 March 2026, link; Ofgem, Energy price cap, accessed 20 March 2026, link).

The Conservatives will maximise North Sea oil and gas extraction:

• Repeal the ban on new oil and gas licences to unlock 2.9 billion barrels. Labour's ban on new oil and gas licences called time on Britain's oil and gas industry leaving 2.9 billion barrels in the ground and risking 200,000 jobs. We will extract this oil and gas, creating £165 billion in economic value (OEUK, Key facts, accessed 31 August 2025, link; OEUK, Press Release, 23 June 2025, link).

• Repeal the Energy Profits Levy to maximise investment in British oil and gas production. The Energy Profits Levy, an additional 38 per cent levy on the upstream production of oil and gas, is set to expire on 31 March 2030. The Conservatives have pledged to remove it once elected and called on the government to remove it immediately (HMRC, Policy Paper, 30 October 2024, link).

• Replace the North Sea Transition Authorities (NSTA) mandate to ‘maximise the extraction of our oil and gas'. The NSTA requires oil and gas companies to fulfil a range of net zero obligations such as connecting oil rigs to the grid and reducing flaring, venting, and emissions. We will change this to one sole mandate of maximising oil and gas extraction and rename the NSTA to the North Sea Authority (The Daily Telegraph, 30 August 2025, link).

• Reverse the ban on government support for the export of oil and gas technology to unlock billions in oil and gas technology exports. UK Export Finance (UKEF) supported on average £5 billion of oil and gas technology exports annually before government support for it was banned. We will reverse this ban to create jobs and unlock billions of exports (The Daily Telegraph, 30 August 2025, link).

• Net zero by 2050 is impossible without bankrupting Britain and making families poorer. Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Net Zero by 2050 is impossible. I don't say that with pleasure. Or because I have some ideological desire to dismantle it – in fact, we must do what we can to improve our natural world. I say it because to anyone who has done any serious analysis knows it can't be achieved without a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us' (Policy Renewal Programme Launch, 18 March 2025, archived).

The Conservatives will introduce our Cheap Power Plan:

• Introduce our Cheap Power Plan to axe Ed Miliband's net zero taxes to cut electricity bills by 20 per cent. We will cut household electricity bills by 20 per cent by axing the Carbon Tax (the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Carbon Price Support) on electricity generation, reducing wholesale electricity prices by a third. We will also scrap Miliband's old Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme, which pays up to three times more than the market price of electricity (Climate Change Act, accessed 26 September 2025, link; Conservative Party Analysis of DESNZ and LCCC data, 26 September 2025, available on request; Ofgem, Policy cost allowance methodology, accessed 26 September 2025, link).

• The Conservatives will repeal the Climate Change Act 2008. The Climate Change Act established legally binding, five yearly carbon reduction targets. Repealing the Act is essential to scrapping Net Zero taxes and levies (Climate Change Act, accessed 26 September 2025, link; Conservative Party Analysis of DESNZ and LCCC data, 26 September 2025, available on request; Ofgem, Policy cost allowance methodology, accessed 26 September 2025, link).

Energy executives, leaders in renewables and the GB Energy Chair has called for more drilling:

• Juergen Maier, Chair of Great British Energy, said that more North Sea oil production would slow job losses and is less polluting than importing from abroad. MAIER: ‘Before I add my view to this, let me present the arguments in favour of supporting more North Sea oil production, which are; It slows job losses in oil & gas industries allowing us to help transition those much needed skilled jobs to roles in the growing renewable energy sector; It supports supply chains to better manage their transition to new supply chains; oil & gas is used in other important applications beyond energy generation; e.g. plastics & chemical production and to have a local production capability & supply is sensible industrial sovereignty; The carbon intensity of the oil & gas produced locally can be lower compared to imported oil & gas, so it makes sense in this transition phase; It supports tax revenues' (Juergen Maier, LinkedIn, 19 March 2026, link).

• Gary Smith, General Secretary of the GMB, said ‘switching off investment in the North Sea is absolute madness'.SMITH: ‘Just switching off investment in the North Sea is absolute madness. It's bad for national security, it's bad for jobs and the truth is it's catastrophic for the environment because we are importing oil and gas, which is far more carbon intensive than producing it ourselves' (GB News, 16 February 2026, link)

• Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, said ‘the government's position on oil and gas is putting jobs and national security at risk'. GRAHAM: ‘The government's position on oil and gas is putting jobs and national security at risk. Blocking oil and gas production in the North Sea, especially now is simply an act of monumental political self-harm. Domestic gas from Jackdaw and oil from Rosebank are essential for jobs and for energy security. We cannot let go of one rope before we have hold of another. With energy and fuel bills set to rocket once again we need to stop offshoring our carbon responsibilities and fund a concrete plan for commensurate jobs' (Unite, Press Release, 13 March 2026, link).

• Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, called for development of North Sea oil and gas fields as ‘it is cleaner'.JACKSON: ‘British gas producers won't be selling it any cheaper than the global market. But it is cleaner and it reduces the backlash against climate policy. I've got no problem with it. I don't know how much we create ourselves, I don't know how much [we] have got left and I don't know the economics of it. But if we're burning gas, then [if it's] ours then it's cleaner' (The Daily Telegraph, 6 September 2025, link).

• Polling by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) found that three quarters of the public think the UK should ‘produce as much of its own oil and gas as possible rather than rely on imports'. The polling said: '76 per cent find it convincing that “because global events can disrupt energy supplies, the UK should continue producing oil and gas at home rather than relying more on imports. 74 per cent say the UK should “produce as much of its own oil and gas as possible rather than rely on imports”' (OEUK, Press Release, 23 March 2026, link).

• Chris O'Shea, CEO of Centrica, called for more North Sea oil and gas development. O'SHEA: ‘I do think that we should look at producing the resources that we have got ourselves. It makes sense. If you've got resources, you should. It's not a silver bullet; nothing in and of itself will fix this. But these activities will bring prices down. It would definitely make a difference' (Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, 22 March 2026, archived).