{"id":336455,"date":"2024-07-14T09:52:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T07:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336455"},"modified":"2024-07-14T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T07:52:57","slug":"miliband-orders-immediate-ban-on-new-north-sea-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=336455","title":{"rendered":"Miliband Orders Immediate Ban on New North Sea Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE DAILY SCEPTIC<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Will Jones<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Miliband has ordered an immediate ban on new drilling in the North Sea \u2013 overruling his own officials and risking triggering a wave of legal action. The Telegraph <\/em>has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In an unusual intervention into what is typically an apolitical process, the Energy Secretary has told regulators not to approve a new round of drilling that was slated for confirmation in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His decision to block the licences means that companies will have wasted millions of pounds on preparing their bids<\/a>, with experts warning they are likely to take legal action as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision followed crisis meetings yesterday between Mr. Miliband and his aides after the Telegraph <\/em>asked for updates on outstanding drilling licence applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The applications, from companies seeking to exploit up to 35 new North Sea areas, were submitted as part of the 33rd offshore oil and gas licensing round initiated by the last Government in autumn 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It saw 76 oil and gas companies submitting 115 bids to drill for oil and gas across 257 \u201cblocks\u201d of the North Sea, Irish Sea and East Atlantic. The NSTA said these would boost U.K. oil output by 600 million barrels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bids for up to 35 areas were still awaiting a decision from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the regulator, when the election was called<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday afternoon the NSTA said that applications were still being considered, despite the change in Government. A spokesman reiterated the NSTA\u2019s pre-election statement that: \u201cFurther consideration is being given to a small number of remaining applications and a few more may be offered at a later date.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Mr. Miliband subsequently instructed the NSTA to block them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a terse statement issued late on Wednesday, his spokesman said: \u201cWe will not issue new licences to explore new fields, and will not revoke existing oil and gas licences. We will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Completely insane. The world \u2013 and the U.K. \u2013 is going to need oil and gas for a long while yet, even under our crazy Net Zero plans. But it appears the U.K. is going to miss out on producing it. Because who needs industry? Who needs income? Who needs affordable energy, for that matter? Not Britain it seems, at least according to Labour. Though somehow I don\u2019t think the public is going to agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ed Miliband has ordered an immediate\u00a0ban on new drilling\u00a0in the North Sea \u2013 overruling his own officials and risking triggering a wave of legal action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":336457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821693,691818610,691819148],"class_list":{"0":"post-336455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ed-miliband","9":"tag-north-sea","10":"tag-oil-and-gas","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/063ab872c-1221-456c-8aa3-03576597ac7a.jpg?fit=2261%2C1272&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1pwH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":402521,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=402521","url_meta":{"origin":336455,"position":0},"title":"How Ed Miliband cost Britain one billion barrels of North Sea oil","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/16\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"For Ed Miliband, it\u2019s a truly awkward moment. His own statisticians have released data showing that Britain\u2019s North Sea will produce a billion barrels of oil and gas fewer than expected between now and 2050 \u2013 with analysts linking the downgrade to Labour\u2019s imposition of 78pc taxes and a\u00a0ban on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"energy industry\"","block_context":{"text":"energy industry","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-industry"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQNFe22cLcy4vvsiflRwz-QuWoAx2srDMxkjlEV5In7DpggL0p_Wctxk-yQhHgDaQGR5UeKd9OjtkPsEWZV-u2tBYv3nm6cQfnvZJ7ipYqtv6uKu5LTv3sy7wailQvEAwvhS40k5T4htVBKN_lDnz5CglpkZLA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQNFe22cLcy4vvsiflRwz-QuWoAx2srDMxkjlEV5In7DpggL0p_Wctxk-yQhHgDaQGR5UeKd9OjtkPsEWZV-u2tBYv3nm6cQfnvZJ7ipYqtv6uKu5LTv3sy7wailQvEAwvhS40k5T4htVBKN_lDnz5CglpkZLA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQNFe22cLcy4vvsiflRwz-QuWoAx2srDMxkjlEV5In7DpggL0p_Wctxk-yQhHgDaQGR5UeKd9OjtkPsEWZV-u2tBYv3nm6cQfnvZJ7ipYqtv6uKu5LTv3sy7wailQvEAwvhS40k5T4htVBKN_lDnz5CglpkZLA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQNFe22cLcy4vvsiflRwz-QuWoAx2srDMxkjlEV5In7DpggL0p_Wctxk-yQhHgDaQGR5UeKd9OjtkPsEWZV-u2tBYv3nm6cQfnvZJ7ipYqtv6uKu5LTv3sy7wailQvEAwvhS40k5T4htVBKN_lDnz5CglpkZLA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0AQNFe22cLcy4vvsiflRwz-QuWoAx2srDMxkjlEV5In7DpggL0p_Wctxk-yQhHgDaQGR5UeKd9OjtkPsEWZV-u2tBYv3nm6cQfnvZJ7ipYqtv6uKu5LTv3sy7wailQvEAwvhS40k5T4htVBKN_lDnz5CglpkZLA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":433546,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=433546","url_meta":{"origin":336455,"position":1},"title":"Miliband’s North Sea Ban: Ideological Madness in the Face of War-Driven Energy Chaos","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/23\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Miliband maintains that extra North Sea production would make no \u201cmaterial difference\u201d to household bills (prices are set globally) or long-term supply. He frames the policy as essential for the \u201cjust transition,\u201d arguing excessive fossil fuel dependence is the real long-term security risk. 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