# Labour MPs told backing North Sea is ‘about more than oil and gas’

By Robert Palmer — 2026-07-13

Robert Palmer, deputy director of Uplift, said: “It is a bit rich of the oil and gas industry to claim it stands with workers – or that more drilling will improve energy security.

“After 60 years of drilling, the North Sea is a declining, ultra-mature basin. The UK has burned most of its gas and what’s left is mostly oil, the vast majority of which is exported and sold on international markets. New drilling will do little for energy security. Without a rapid shift to the abundant renewable energy we have, and help to households to shift away from their reliance on fossil fuels, the UK will become ever more reliant on imported gas.

“Meanwhile, the number of jobs supported by the oil and gas industry has more than halved over the past decade, despite hundreds of new licences and new field approvals.

“Oil and gas companies have made billions, but those profits have gone to executives and shareholders, not into creating new jobs and industries, like wind manufacturing. The vast majority of North Sea operators invest nothing in UK renewables – they simply want to maximise profits from oil and gas for as long as possible.

“The government should ignore the special pleading of companies that have got very rich while households faced soaring energy bills and workers saw declining conditions and security. Instead, it should invest in industries with a future, like wind manufacturing, that can provide good jobs for generations of workers.”

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