The UK’s future “does not lie in more oil and gas”, an energy minister has told MPs, just days after a court ruled against consent for two new fields in the North Sea.
A judge last week upheld a legal challenge by environmental campaigners against the decision to grant consent to two new oil and gas fields, Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Greenpeace and Uplift brought the case to the Court of Session in Edinburgh over approval to the Rosebank oil field north west of Shetland and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen.
They argued the government and North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) acted unlawfully when granting consent, and did not account for future emissions from the burning of fuels.
The former Conservative government approved Shell’s proposals for the Jackdaw field in 2022 and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s plans to drill in the Rosebank field in 2023.
But in a judgement published on Thursday, Lord Ericht said the decision to grant consent was unlawful and ruled the consent should be “reduced” (quashed) and reconsidered.
Now energy minister Michael Shanks has told the Commons that the UK’s future “doesn’t lie in more oil and gas”.
John Slinger, Labour MP for Rugby, asked: “Does the minister agree with me that new oil and gas developments will not give us energy security, as the fossil fuels produced will be sold internationally, they won’t lower bills, and they undermine our climate commitments?”
And Shanks told the Commons: “Even if oil and gas is extracted from the continental shelf, it is sold on the international markets.
“And, of course, the companies that extract that oil and gas are in the business of trying to make as much of a profit as possible and they will sell to the highest bidder, so it doesn’t protect the prices for consumers right across this country.”
He added: “We were clear in our manifesto that we won’t issue new licences for new exploration fields.
We’ll continue to support those licences that have already been issued but our future doesn’t lie in more oil and gas, our future lies in clean power and that’s what we’re moving at pace to deliver.
It came as energy secretary Ed Miliband insisted again that the expansion of Heathrow Airport would only take place if it is within the UK’s existing climate targets.
Speaking at energy questions on Tuesday morning, Miliband said the extension of any airport would have to meet existing carbon budgets and environmental restrictions.
He said: “Any aviation expansion, this is the point the Chancellor made last week, has to take place within carbon budgets and within environmental limits.”
It comes as Miliband has come under pressure following Rachel Reeves’ announcement of the government’s support for a third runway at the west London aviation hub in a speech on her drive for growth – which the former Labour leader did not attend.