Comment on CCC climate compatibility of new oil and gas fields

Commenting on Climate Change Committee (CCC) advice to the Government on the climate compatibility of new oil and gas fields in the UK, Jess Ralston, Analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “This advice makes clear that calls to re-open North Sea drilling or fracking are red herring solutions to the current gas crisis. Investing in oil and gas now would keep us locked into the volatile global gas market for longer and make no significant difference to bills. As we’ve seen in recent years de-commissioning rigs comes with a large taxpayer bill, £3.7bn over just four years.

“Evidence has shown that insulating homes and transitioning to renewables is cheaper and more effective at shielding us from international gas markets. Let’s be clear, this isn’t just the CCC’s advice, the International Energy Agency has said there’s no point in opening new gas fields and oil majors like Shell are already turning their back on the North Sea due to the poor economics. There’s a far stronger case for building out more, low-cost renewables in the North Sea than new oil and gas.”