Tony Blair is wrong: North Sea oil is not the answer to our problems
Renewable energy is the only way to insulate ourselves from global volatility and bring down bills, writes Christophe Williams
The North Sea's oil and gas reserves have often captured the imagination of politicians and the public as the supposed silver bullet to cut bills and reduce the UK's dependence on foreign energy imports.
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Tony Blair is the latest politician to become entranced by its spell, arguing that the Labour Party must use 'what is left of our North Sea oil and gas resources', arguing that it's 'essential for our competitiveness'.
However, the simple reality is that calls to 'just use more North Sea gas' are false comfort. Even Claire Coutinho, an outspoken advocate for North Sea drilling, acknowledged this herself in 2023 when the Conservatives were in Government, saying that going down this road 'wouldn't necessarily bring energy bills down'.
The conflict in Iran has given us yet another reminder that dependence on gas weakens our energy security. UK wholesale gas prices rose by around 90% in the first week of the conflict alone, and that volatility feeds straight through to businesses and households.
Shifting towards generating our own gas does not change this, because the fuel extracted from the North Sea is sold at international prices, so it does not provide households or businesses with any insulation from global shocks.
Furthermore, the remaining reserves in the North Sea are nowhere near sufficient to supply all our oil and gas, so we will still need to rely heavily on fossil fuels imported from elsewhere in the world.
The North Sea offers neither long-term stability nor a cost advantage. The only thing it offers us is a distraction.
The answer to this problem, as much as Tony Blair would hate to admit it, is to cut gas demand with renewables. If there's one thing the wars in Ukraine and Iran have taught us, it's that renewable energy is the only way to insulate ourselves from global volatility and bring down bills.
A good place to focus our attention to alleviate pressure from Iran is heat. Heat is the world's largest energy end use, accounting for close to half of global final energy consumption, and most of it is still fossil-fuelled. Tackling heat with British- and European-made clean technologies is one of the fastest ways to reduce exposure to gas price volatility while strengthening energy security. It can also help create some home-grown jobs while we're there.
It might not be easy, but it's the obvious answer staring us all in the face. Now's the time to double down, not to take our eye off the ball.
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Christophe Williams is the CEO of Naked Energy.
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