Chancellor Rachel Reeves has backed new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as the "quickest way" to boost UK supplies.
Reeves, The Times reports, has claimed ministers are working "pretty intensely" to open up "tie-back" arrangements to allow more extraction net to existing oil fields.
The Chancellor teased an imminent announcement from herself and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on the issue.
Speaking following the conclusion of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, Reeves said: “We are looking at what we can do to exploit more of our resources in the North Sea through tie-backs … what tie-backs are is where you use existing infrastructure to exploit sort of larger geography of oil and gas as the quickest way to bring on-stream more oil and gas.”
Reeves stressed the importance of ensuring oil and gas firms are given the confidence to full exploit those assets.
Her comments mark the second intervention from the Chancellor on oil and gas in recent weeks, following her public backing for green-lighting the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments earlier this month.
Meanwhile, it was reported Miliband is minded to approve the Jackdaw project but remains opposed to Rosebank.
US President Donald Trump also weighed in this week, calling on the UK to fully utilise its North Sea assets and insisting "Aberdeen should be booming".
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