Tories seek Commons vote for new North Sea oil drilling

The Conservatives are set to force a vote in the Commons demanding new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea to help tackle soaring fuel prices, branding the ban “sheer lunacy”.

The party will table an Opposition Day motion on Tuesday, calling on the Government to approve drilling in the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields.

Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the “onerous” ban must be lifted, branding it “sheer lunacy” while the UK faces a supply crisis.

Oil and gas prices have been driven up in recent weeks as Iran has throttled key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, with commercial vessels coming under attack in the region.

The motion is unlikely to pass due to Labour’s large Commons majority.

Ms Coutinho said: “Turning our backs on domestic gas that could heat millions of homes would be madness in normal times, but it is sheer lunacy in the midst of a gas supply crisis.

“We must fast-track Rosebank and Jackdaw and lift the onerous bans and taxes on the North Sea to back Britain’s energy security.

“Labour MPs have the chance to show they will put the national interest over Ed Miliband’s zealotry.”

The Tories warned that without action, the UK could be importing as much as 82% of its gas by 2035, leaving billpayers vulnerable to oil price volatility.

They claim Rosebank and Jackdaw are “languishing” and should be used to boost domestic energy production.

‘Sheer fantasy’

However, last week, Dr Anupama Sen of the University of Oxford Smith School described the claims that drilling in the North Sea will significantly save households money as a “sheer fantasy”.

Dr Sen said: “Regardless of the remaining lifetime of North Sea oil and gas, a ‘drill baby drill’ approach to extraction would actually cost households more money versus continuing on our path to clean energy.”

The university’s analysis suggested maximising oil and gas extraction from the North Sea would save households just £16 to £82 a year, while a UK fully powered by renewable energy could save households £105 to £441 a year on bills.

If the Government did not use the tax revenues it collects from North Sea drilling solely to help lower household bills, there would be “no discernible benefit” to consumers at all as oil and gas prices are set by volatile international markets, the analysts said.

Important role

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Labour MPs on Monday that North Sea oil and gas would play an important role for decades to come.

“But anyone who tells you that new licences in the North Sea will make any difference to price is not telling you the truth.

“Because gas is bought and sold on the international market and the price is set there. As the last government repeatedly admitted,” he told a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives had 14 years to deliver energy security and failed every test. They left British billpayers exposed to global fossil fuel shocks that sent bills soaring and triggered the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

“Kemi Badenoch should be apologising to the British people for the mess they left.”