Ed Miliband Costs Britain One Billion Barrels of North Sea Oil

Thanks to 78% taxes and a ban on new drilling

Ed Miliband will cost Britain one billion barrels of North Sea oil and gas, official data confirm, as a sharp drop in output up to 2050 emerges – a result of Labour imposing 78% taxes and a ban on new drilling. The Telegraph has more.

For Ed Miliband, it’s a truly awkward moment.

His own statisticians have released data showing that Britain’s North Sea will produce a billion barrels of oil and gas fewer than expected between now and 2050 – with analysts linking the downgrade to Labour’s imposition of 78% taxes and a ban on new drilling.

The assessment, by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the Government regulator that reports to Mr Miliband, suggests the UK will have to import a far higher proportion of its oil and gas over the next 25 years.

According to a separate analysis, the accelerated decline of the North Sea could see half the 200,000 jobs it supports destroyed by 2030.

Many of those will be in Scotland, where elections due next year make such potential losses seriously risky for Labour’s prospects.

“We have already seen a 10% reduction in output – equating to 100,000 barrels of oil a day, replaced by imports,” said Chris Wheaton, an energy analyst with investment bank Stifel. “This will increase the longer the windfall tax stays in place – reaching 20% below previous forecasts by 2030.”

The downgrade in North Sea output emerges from comparing the production projections published by the NSTA in 2023 – before the election – with the latest versions, just published.

In autumn 2023, the NSTA predicted the UK would produce oil and gas equivalent to 681 million tonnes of oil between 2025 and 2050.

In the latest equivalent data, this has now been slashed to 557 million tonnes. The 'lost' 124 million tonnes equates to a billion barrels of oil.

Splitting oil and gas, the NSTA data suggests the UK has lost 31 billion cubic metres of gas, enough for six months of UK consumption, and 70 million tonnes of oil – enough to supply the UK for a year.

Mr Wheaton said: “Investment is being curtailed, and companies are voting with their feet. Chevron and Repsol are already exiting the UK North Sea, and [last week] TotalEnergies also announced plans to sell up.” ...

Claire Coutinho, Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “This is complete insanity. Ed Miliband is costing the UK a billion barrels of oil. He is driving British production of oil and gas into the ground, all so we can import more from abroad.

“He needs to get a grip, scrap the energy price levy, end the ban on new oil and gas licences and back the North Sea.”

Richard Tice, Reform’s Energy Spokesman, said: “This is self-induced financial suicide. The UK will lose tens of billions of pounds in lost growth and jobs in pursuit of a vanity target, Net stupid Zero. Our competitors will be laughing at our naïve foolishness as they take our jobs and money.”

Worth reading in full.