Reports Ed Miliband ordered 'immediate North Sea oil ban' 'fabrication', says UK Government

Reports the energy secretary overruled officials by ordering an “immediate” ban on North Sea oil and gas licences is a “fabrication”, the UK Government has said.

The Telegraph reported that Ed Miliband told regulators not to approve a new round of drilling that was set to get under way in the coming weeks in an “unusual intervention into what is typically an apolitical process”.

The newspaper said the former Labour leader had overruled officials in his own department with the order.

It said the move could lead to legal action from oil and gas companies that have invested vast sums of money surveying areas and preparing to drill them.

But the UK Government strenuously denied the report, calling it a “complete fabrication” and saying it “invents meetings and decisions that have not taken place”.

A spokesperson said the UK Government will not issue new licenses to explore new oil fields but would not revoke existing licenses.

The policy was part of the Labour General Election manifesto.

Labour have said they will not grant new licences in the North Sea but they would continue with any licences already in operation. iStock

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “This piece is a complete fabrication – it invents meetings and decisions that have not taken place.

“As previously stated, we will not issue new licences to explore new fields.

We will also not revoke existing oil and gas licences and will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.

“We are working with the North Sea Transition Authority to ensure a fair and balanced transition in the North Sea.”

Oil and gas currently provide around 75% of the UK#s energy consumption and official government forecasts expect the fossil fuels to remain important to Britain’s overall mix for the foreseeable future.

However, there continues to be a wider political and societal debate over its future use.

In 2022, licenses to explore oil and gas and potentially develop almost 900 locations in the North Sea were opened to applicants.

The UK Government received 115 bids from 76 different companies. Some were to be fast-tracked allowing seabed sites to be developed rapidly.

Any new oil and gas production resulting from new licences would be “aligned with the UK’s climate objective of reaching net zero by 2050”, the then-Conservative UK Government said.

Environmental campaigners have stepped up their calls for the country to move away from fossil fuels.

The oil sector says its firms are driving the move to renewables and investing heavily in new, cleaner technology – and it insists oil will still be needed for decades in Scotland.