The head of the UK’s renewables trade body has urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to increase domestic energy production, including oil and gas from the North Sea.
Tara Singh, CEO of RenewableUK, said recent geopolitical tensions highlight the UK’s exposure to global energy shocks and argued that the country would be “stronger, safer and less exposed if it produces more home-grown energy of every kind.”
Writing in The Telegraph, Singh said Britain would still need oil and gas “for the foreseeable future” even as the energy transition accelerates.
She added that “it is entirely sensible to support continued domestic oil and gas production in the North Sea,” warning that if the UK does not produce gas domestically “we will simply import more of it.”
Her comments add to pressure on the UK Government to reconsider its stance on new drilling licences.
Since coming to power, Labour has largely blocked new North Sea licences and expanded the windfall tax on producers, measures critics say risk accelerating the basin’s decline.
Singh also stressed that the North Sea is “a mature basin, not a limitless national asset,” and argued that expanding renewables remains the most effective long-term route to energy security.
However, she called for a pragmatic approach to energy policy, urging politicians to “take energy out of the culture wars” and focus on expanding reliable domestic supply across multiple sources.