Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of plans to grant new oil and gas licences.

New oil and gas licences will aid the UK’s delivery of net zero, reduce imports of LNG with much higher emissions than UK gas, strengthen UK and European energy security as UK oil is overwhelmingly refined and predominantly consumed in the UK and Europe, will help lower production emissions, manage the decline of production in the basin, support and protect the 200,000 jobs dependent on the industry, preserve tax revenues, strengthen the UK’s balance of payments and retain the skills, expertise, investment, and supply chains needed to support the transition to low carbon and renewable technologies necessary for net zero to be reached by 2050.