North Sea can provide 50% of oil and gas the UK needs until 2050

THE North Sea could produce about half of the oil and gas the UK will need in the run up to 2050 — but only if new projects can be developed, industry chiefs have said.

- By Katrine Bussey

As it stands Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) said the UK is on track to produce just four billion of the 13 to 15 billion barrels of oil and gas the country will need in the next 25 years.

However, OEUK argued that by “unlocking additional resources from waters around the coast” this could be increased to about seven billion barrels — a move which the industry body said could be worth £150 billion to the UK economy.

Speaking as it published its 2025 Business Outlook report, chief executive David Whitehouse said this could only happen if the UK Government consents to new projects.

Since Labour came to power the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has maintained it will not issue licences to explore new fields, as it seeks to reduce emissions towards UK's net zero target by 2050.

Mr Whitehouse told journalists that while “the bulk of that additional oil and gas” could come from existing fields, it would “require new projects to meet that target” of the UK producing seven billion barrels.