Thank you for contacting me about the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.
I note your concerns about the legislation, however, the intention of the Bill is to enhance the UK’s energy security and reduce dependence on higher emission imports from overseas, including from countries such as Russia. While the Government is scaling up home-grown, clean energy sources such as offshore wind and nuclear, the UK is still reliant on oil and gas for most of our energy needs and there will be continued need over the coming decades. The UK has one of the world’s most ambitious 2030 emissions targets.
You should celebrate that the UK has cut emissions faster than any other significant economy and this Bill is consistent with meeting net zero by 2050.
Data from the Climate Change Committee show that the UK will need oil and gas even when it reaches net zero. NSTA analysis shows that domestically produced natural gas is almost four times cleaner than importing LNG. Even with continued development, oil and gas productions is expected to decline by 7% a year and to fall by nearly 90% by 2050. This is faster than the average annual global decline needed to align with UN 1.5 degrees pathways and the UK’s carbon budgets.
