The UK government has introduced legislation that would end the award of new oil and gas exploration licences in the North Sea, while creating a new route for companies to keep producing from existing offshore fields.
What the Energy Independence Bill does
- No new exploration licences: the North Sea Transition Authority would lose its power to license previously unlicensed areas for oil and gas exploration.
- Transitional Energy Certificates: a new mechanism would let companies tap extra resources in and around existing fields, including discoveries that can be linked back to current platforms and pipelines.
- Impact: the government says this could unlock about 60 million barrels of extra oil and support hundreds of offshore jobs.
- Existing licences would stay in force.
Why now
The bill is part of the government’s North Sea Future Plan, which aims to manage falling domestic output while supporting investment in existing infrastructure and the shift to renewables. Official figures show UK oil and gas production in 2025 was about 75% below its historic peak, and ministers argue that new licences would not reverse that long-term decline.
Industry concerns
Offshore Energies UK chief executive David Whitehouse said affordability must go hand in hand with security of supply, and that Britain should make the most of its own oil and gas while building renewables. The industry body points out that the UK imports more than 40% of its energy, leaving consumers exposed to swings in global markets.
The bill now goes through Parliament. The exact scope of activities allowed under the new certificates will depend on the final law and how it is implemented.
Based on reporting by Splash247, 5 November 2026.
Photo: Representative image: an oil platform in the North Sea. Gary Bembridge / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
