Reform UK on North Sea oil and gas: comment

“The North Sea is a mature oil and gas basin in long-term decline, and that is a geological reality that no political slogan can change. Even with new licences, overall production will continue to fall, meaning any strategy built on doubling down on oil and gas risks chasing a shrinking resource rather than planning for the future. [2] 

"True energy security today means reducing exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets, not deepening it. The price shocks of recent years have shown how reliant the UK is on international gas markets, leaving households and businesses vulnerable to geopolitical events and decisions taken by actors like Putin and Trump. Expanding domestic renewables, by contrast, offers a way to generate stable, homegrown energy that isn’t subject to those same external pressures.

"We are already seeing the benefits, with wind power helping to cut wholesale electricity prices significantly and strengthening Scotland’s energy independence. Undermining that progress in favour of a declining and volatile fossil fuel system would not only risk higher bills, but also weaken Scotland’s position in the growing global clean energy economy.”