Reform calls for ‘every last drop’ of oil and gas to be extracted in UK

Reform UK has backed fracking for shale gas as part of efforts to extract “every last barrel, every last drop” of gas and oil in the UK.

Richard Tice MP, the party’s energy spokesperson, insisted the UK Government must approve “all of the existing drilling consents” for the North Sea – including both the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields, where development has been heavily opposed by environmentalists.

But backing such projects is “absolutely vital”, Mr Tice said, arguing such a move would be a “sign of confidence” to the industry.

His comments came as he said the current rise in energy prices – linked to the conflict in the Gulf – showed the importance of the UK utilising its own supplies.

Mr Tice said: “With everything that’s going on in the world at the moment, has there ever been a more important time to understand the importance of having our own secure supply of energy.”

As he spoke, the lights at the Aberdeen press conference went out – with the Reform MP explaining the “stunt” had been “to make a point” about energy supply, claiming  that “we nearly had blackouts in the United Kingdom” a year ago.

He said: “To think that we are on an island of energy treasure of oil and gas and yet we could run out of electricity.”

But as well as sourcing oil and gas offshore, the Reform UK MP said the country should also look at its onshore resources.

He stated: “I’m a Lincolnshire MP, and in Lincolnshire there is shale gas to the tune of potentially a decade’s worth, give or take, of UK gas demand, and there are a variety of techniques for extracting it.

“We should be extracting everything we possibly can, safely of course.”

He added that shale gas was “literally what transformed the US economy some 20 years ago from being an energy importer, to using their own domestic energy, their own domestic gas and then becoming an energy exporter” – with Mr Tice saying the UK “could have the same”.

He went on to claim: “We can have cheap energy, cheap gas, cheap electricity once again. That’s what we need to do.”

Mr Tice insisted: “If we use our own gas, then, we can have cheap domestically priced gas and that will bring our bills down, that will bring the cost of living down.”

His comments came as he announced Reform UK’s “critical four-point plan” for the UK’s energy sector.

As part of this, Nigel Farage’s party wants to see industry regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority, change its name back to the Oil and Gas Authority – with  Mr Tice adding that the body should be tasked with working towards “maximum economic recovery” of the fuels.

Mr Tice, speaking at a press conference in Aberdeen, said: “We have to give a clear message to the oil and gas industry that we are deadly serious, we want those companies, be they domestic or international, to get ready to invest back here in the UK.

“That’s why we need to rename the North Sea Transition Authority – we need to take it back to being the Oil and Gas Authority. And, critically, we need to change its statutory mandate, that should be maximum economic recovery.

“As far as I’m concerned, frankly, every last barrel, every last drop. Because it is our energy treasure, it creates jobs here, it creates wealth here and prosperity and give us low competitive energy prices, so we have to do this.”

He demanded the UK Government abolish the Energy Profits Levy on oil and gas – known as the windfall tax – which was introduced by the Tories but has continued under the Labour Government at Westminster.

Abolishing the levy would help “incentivise” the oil and gas sector, Mr Tice said, adding that 49 new wells had been drilled in Norwegian waters last year, compared to none in the UK – a situation he insisted was “frankly a humiliation”.

But Robert Palmer, deputy director of Uplift, which campaigns for a “rapid and fair transition” away from oil and gas, said: “Reform’s pledge to ‘drill the North Sea’, while promising to block renewables, is a nightmare double whammy that would see higher energy bills for longer.”

Mr Palmer said “new drilling will do nothing to improve the UK’s energy security”, adding that “the UK has burned most of its gas, and most of what is left in the North Sea is oil, the vast majority of which is exported”.

He continued: “The promise of lots more jobs from oil and gas drilling is selling a pipe dream to energy workers.

“Under the last UK government, jobs in the industry halved.”

Mr Palmer said: “Given the Trumpflation caused by the Iran conflict, we need to get off our dependency on fossil fuels by doubling down on renewables, like wind, and upgrading homes with solar power and heat pumps, so we can free ourselves from oil and gas.”