Ed Miliband confirms crackdown on North Sea exploration – but new drilling will continue
The government has ruled out new North Sea oil and gas exploration or lower taxes for fossil fuel companies as it struggles to protect workers from the industry’s collapse.In a strategy paper, Ed Miliband confirmed the crackdown on new North Sea exploration – although the energy secretary will still allow new offshore fossil fuel projects to move ahead as long as they are linked to existing fields.The strategy was released alongside Rachel Reeves’ budget statement, which ended months of speculation over the future of the North Sea industry by confirming the government’s intention to ban new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, and keep tax rates in place.The Labour party swept to power with a promise to end new exploration drilling, alongside a pledge to work with oil and gas companies to manage the North Sea’s remaining lifespan.The government hopes that by allowing “tie-back” projects that are linked to existing schemes it can strike a balance between protecting thousands of North Sea jobs and meeting the UK’s climate commitments.
Miliband said: “The North Sea’s workers and communities have helped power our country and our world for decades,This is our plan to ensure they continue to do so for many decades to come,”Greenpeace said that holding firm on the oil and gas windfall tax, despite fierce industry lobbying, would support the transition to clean energy,Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, Areeba Hamid, said: “Oil and gas production has driven both the climate and energy price crises, leaving us all paying through the nose while fossil fuel companies have pocketed billions,But the winds are changing.
The future of Britain’s energy is and needs to be clean, stable, homegrown renewables – not expensive, volatile, climate-wrecking fossil fuels.“However, the current plan – and the cash – to support North Sea workers doesn’t go far enough.It’s vital they are at the heart of Britain’s transition to a clean-energy superpower, not left behind by it – but a £20m jobs package doesn’t cut the mustard.A fair transition will create thousands of new jobs, strengthen communities, and prove that climate leadership and economic security can go hand in hand.”The industry association Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) warned that the windfall tax would “cripple” investment and called for an urgent meeting with the chancellor to “explore every option to reverse this policy and prevent further economic and industrial damage”.
To secure an energy transition certificate and move ahead with a tie-back project, oil and gas firms should prove that the extra fuel production is necessary, and that projects can move ahead without investment in any new fossil fuel infrastructure,This should mean only a small fraction of the North Sea’s remaining reserves will be developed in even the most optimistic scenarios, according to analysis by Uplift, a group that campaigns to end North Sea drilling,Tessa Khan, the executive director of Uplift, said: “This government is right to end the fiction of endless drilling,The North Sea is an ageing basin, with most of the gas already burned, and new licensing will do nothing to stem the decline in jobs,“We now need this government to be bolder – to make sure the jobs and wealth generated from the shift to clean energy reach UK workers and communities, and to ensure we maintain a livable climate.
That means a proper plan for workers and an end to all new fields, including the huge Rosebank oilfield,”The government is expected to decide the Rosebank oilfield’s fate early next year,The controversial project secured an exploration licence under the previous government, meaning Miliband could give the final green light to the project without breaching his party’s manifesto,Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionIndustry sources claim that the North Sea industry’s decline will accelerate with a windfall tax – even if Rosebank proceeds and North Sea tie-back projects are approved,Oil and gas producers have faced taxes totalling 78% on their profits since the energy crisis caused a surge in market prices.
However, the windfall tax has continued to take a toll on production as oil prices have fallen back to pre-crisis levels.North Sea spending has collapsed from more than $35bn (£26bn) a year in 2015 to about $15bn in 2023, according to government data, causing the industry’s total workforce – including direct and indirect jobs – to more than halve, from about 450,000 to 200,000 over the same period.Industry analysts at Stifel, an investment bank, predicted that under the government’s current fiscal regime jobs in the sector will halve again before the end of the decade.The blow to jobs and investment will also take a toll on Treasury revenues, according to official data.Tax receipts from the industry are expected to fall by more than 41% from last year to £2.
7bn in this financial year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.This is £2.5bn lower than its forecasts in March.By the end of the decade, receipts are forecast to plummet to £300m under the government’s windfall tax.David Whitehouse, the chief executive of OEUK, said: “Today, the government turned down £50bn of investment for the UK and the chance to protect the jobs and industries that keep this country running.
Instead, they’ve chosen a path that will see 1,000 jobs continue to be lost every month, more energy imports and a contagion across supply chains and our industrial heartlands.”
Labour is still in a muddle on North Sea oil and gas | Nils Pratley
Labour’s manifesto commitment on North Sea oil and gas production was a fudge. On one hand, it said no new licences “to explore new fields” would be granted. On the other, it said existing fields would be managed “for the entirety of their lifespan” in a way “that does not jeopardise jobs”.The formulation raised many questions. Where, exactly, would the line be drawn between a new field and an existing field? What would be the approach to protecting workers when, as now, North Sea jobs are estimated to be going at a rate of 1,000 a month according to analysis by Robert Gordon University?The thinking is only slightly easier to understand now
Ed Miliband confirms crackdown on North Sea exploration – but new drilling will continue
The government has ruled out new North Sea oil and gas exploration or lower taxes for fossil fuel companies as it struggles to protect workers from the industry’s collapse.In a strategy paper, Ed Miliband confirmed the crackdown on new North Sea exploration – although the energy secretary will still allow new offshore fossil fuel projects to move ahead as long as they are linked to existing fields.The strategy was released alongside Rachel Reeves’ budget statement, which ended months of speculation over the future of the North Sea industry by confirming the government’s intention to ban new oil and gas licences to explore new fields, and keep tax rates in place.The Labour party swept to power with a promise to end new exploration drilling, alongside a pledge to work with oil and gas companies to manage the North Sea’s remaining lifespan.The government hopes that by allowing “tie-back” projects that are linked to existing schemes it can strike a balance between protecting thousands of North Sea jobs and meeting the UK’s climate commitments
ChatGPT firm blames boy’s suicide on ‘misuse’ of its technology
The maker of ChatGPT has said the suicide of a 16-year-old was down to his “misuse” of its system and was “not caused” by the chatbot.The comments came in OpenAI’s response to a lawsuit filed against the San Francisco company and its chief executive, Sam Altman, by the family of California teenager Adam Raine.Raine killed himself in April after extensive conversations and “months of encouragement from ChatGPT”, the family’s lawyer has said.The lawsuit alleges the teenager discussed a method of suicide with ChatGPT on several occasions, that it guided him on whether a suggested method would work, offered to help him write a suicide note to his parents and that the version of the technology he used was “rushed to market … despite clear safety issues”.According to filings at the superior court of the state of California on Tuesday, OpenAI said that “to the extent that any ‘cause’ can be attributed to this tragic event” Raine’s “injuries and harm were caused or contributed to, directly and proximately, in whole or in part, by [his] misuse, unauthorised use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT”
Europe loosens reins on AI – and US takes them off
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, writing to you from an American grocery store, where I’m planning my Thanksgiving pies.In tech, the European Union is deregulating artificial intelligence; the United States is going even further. The AI bubble has not popped, thanks to Nvidia’s astronomical quarterly earnings, but fears persist. And Meta has avoided a breakup for a similar reason as Google
Commonwealth Games hosts Ahmedabad vow not to repeat Delhi 2010 farce
Ahmedabad has vowed not to make the same mistakes as Delhi in 2010 and to “lay the foundations for the next 100 years” after being confirmed as the host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games.Organisers said that 15 to 17 sports would feature in 2030 – up from the 10 that will feature in Glasgow next summer – including athletics, swimming, table tennis, bowls and netball. Twenty20 cricket and triathlon are on a provisional list, with the process to determine the final list of sports starting next month.The Indian city has been selected ahead of a rival bid from Abuja in Nigeria and was given final approval at Commonwealth Sport’s general assembly in Glasgow on Wednesday .With India heavily targeting the 2036 Summer Olympics, organisers were keen to stress the Commonwealth Games in the state of Gujarat would prove they could organise a large multi-sport event without any hiccups
Field of Dreams-like shrine to cricket built ‘from bud to bat’ – photo essay
Ian Tinetti watches the wind in his willows as Newstead’s opening batters prepare to take on Hepburn in the hamlet of Shepherds Flat. His self-made cricket ground is about the only thing that is flat in Victoria’s Central Highlands and, on a chilly November afternoon, the adjacent grove of English Willow makes it feel even more like the Yorkshire Dales.Visiting this Field of Dreams-like shrine to the game is like uncovering the interconnected layers of a Russian doll – bat making, the Hepburn area’s Swiss-Italian heritage, the history of Victorian cricket and Australian rules football, and also, appropriately, doll collecting.Cricket Willow’s origin can be traced back to an idle exchange during the 1902 Ashes Test at the MCG, when umpire Robert Crockett said to England captain Archie MacLaren that Australia did not cultivate its own bat willow.Above: Newstead and Hepburn meet in a Castlemaine & District Cricket Association match at the self-made ground at Cricket Willow
Gopichand Hinduja
Relief for retailers as business rate changes in budget not as bad as feared
London councils enact emergency plans after three hit by cyber-attack
European parliament calls for social media ban on under-16s
Tuilagi could face England with Samoa while Marchant return is boon for Borthwick
Racing celebrates ‘Axe the Tax’ Budget campaign victory after Reeves spares sport