Andy Burnham hit the nail on the (well)head in his first fortnight as prime minister when he said: “The question isn’t whether Britain will still be using oil and gas, the question is, where does it come from?” It was a nod towards several awkward energy facts. First, oil and gas provided 75% of the UK’s energy in 2025, government data shows. Second, even with the rollout of domestic renewables for generating electricity, about 43% of overall energy was imported last year.
Third, all credible paths to net zero emissions by 2050 involve using a lot of oil and gas on the way because we’re still in the foothills of electrification. Fewer than 2% of UK households have heat pumps, according to the lobby group Electrify Britain. While sales of EVs are accelerating, nearly 95% of vehicles on the road run on petrol and diesel.
Meanwhile, hydrogen and biomethane have barely taken off as alternatives to gas for those industrial processes that require higher temperatures than electricity can achieve – tricky for a government pursuing “reindustrialisation”. Fourth – and this one must alarm Downing Street – the global energy market has simply become less reliable. The strait of Hormuz can close overnight.
The US president can threaten to ban diesel exports. Russian ships prowl the North Sea. Even the nice Norwegians, with an eye on their own energy consumers, scrapped a planned electricity cable to Scotland in 2023.
It is no longer a world of always-available “just in time” supply. Thinking has shifted to “just in case” scenario-planning. And a truly scary scenario would be disruption to the 725-mile Langeled pipeline that is the primary route for gas supplies from Norway, 40% of the UK’s consumption last year.
The pipeline is a security vulnerability if ever there was one (if you doubt it, watch Sky News’ recent report). Now we have the start of an answer to Burnham’s “where should it come from?” question. The Jackdaw gasfield, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, has finally been approved to produce in time for winter.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
