Andy Burnham was yesterday urged to reverse Labour’s oil and gas drilling ban ‘before it’s too late’ as BP put its North Sea business up for sale in a major blow to Britain.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the PM must ‘stop faffing’ after the energy giant said it was pulling out of its UK oil and gas fields after six decades.
BP’s decision is the most significant example yet of how the North Sea industry is being crushed by the tax burden imposed by a series of governments and increased by Labour.
It came as a sucker punch to Mr Burnham a day after he signalled his party was ready to soften his opposition to new drilling in the region.
The reversal came after mounting concern that Net Zero policies championed by former energy secretary Ed Miliband were leaving Britain exposed – at a time when oil and gas supplies from the Middle East are being choked off, pushing up bills.
And yesterday the squeeze on pockets became even tighter as petrol prices reached their highest in more than three-and-a-half years.
Amid the Iran oil crisis, the RAC said the average price of a litre of petrol at forecourts reached 160.0p – the highest since November 2022. That is compared with 132.8p per litre when the conflict began on February 28.
Mr Burnham finally admitted this week that the North Sea was a resource that ‘we can’t ignore’ at a time ‘when people are struggling’.
Kemi Badenoch has said the PM must ‘stop faffing’ around and grant oil and gas drilling licences
It contrasts with the confrontational approach of Mr Miliband, who earlier this year attacked BP over its soaring profits, describing them as ‘morally and economically wrong’.
But despite the new PM’s positive noises, oil and gas producers are still grappling with a tax rate of 78 per cent.
Dr Brian Gilvary, a former BP finance chief who is now chairman of INEOS Energy, yesterday said the punitive charge, coupled with the ban on drilling ‘has effectively shut down investment’.
And new BP boss Meg O’Neill decided she could not wait any longer to act.
Ms O’Neill said the FTSE 100 giant would have to focus on its ‘highest-value opportunities’ and that the North Sea business ‘will be better positioned as part of another company’.
BP said it was launching a process to market the division – employing 1,100 people – ‘for a potential sale’.
Yesterday, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Andy Burnham must stop faffing about and allow new oil and gas licences before it’s too late.’
BP’s move came as ministers continue to dither over whether to green light two new North Sea projects – oil field Rosebank and gas field Jackdaw.
Andy Mayer, energy analyst at the think-tank Institute of Economic Affairs, said Mr Burnham ‘has so far offered the industry vibes, not new decisions’ and ‘has self-evidently not impressed one of Britain’s largest companies’.
David Whitehouse, head of North Sea trade body Offshore Energies UK, said BP’s decision was a ‘significant moment’ and ‘should prompt serious reflection’.
