“Improved recovery rates and slower decline are both achievable but only if investment can be secured,” said Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). On the other hand, if investments dry up, the nation might be pumping just 600,000 barrels equivalent a day at the end of the decade. Labour plans to stop issuing new oil and gas exploration licenses, arguing that they won’t reduce household energy bills and will contribute to worsening the climate crisis. The party also aims to raise the windfall tax on oil and gas by three percentage points. Oil and gas provides around 120,000 jobs, or almost 80% of jobs directly or indirectly supported by UK offshore energy, which includes fossil fuels, offshore wind, carbon capture and storage and hydrogen, according to estimates from Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.
