A Future for UK Oil & Gas

The UK can’t do without the oil and gas sector if it wants to make a success of the energy transition.

It secures 200,000 jobs through direct production and supply chains. It delivers just under half of the UK’s domestic gas needs and over half of its oil demand. Taxes from the sector – which totalled £6.2bn in 2023/24 – in turn help pay for our public services and public investment.

A cliff-edge for investment, exploration and production in the sector because of flawed fiscal policy and ideological bans would be bad for jobs, redistribution, and energy security in a volatile world. It would be bad for any prospect of a credible transition for existing energy workers.

Change is being done to workers and not with them. Promises of tens of thousands of jobs in renewables manufacturing have not materialised while workers in steel manufacturing and petroleum refining are facing redundancy. There’s no just transition for people in Port Talbot and Grangemouth.

Fact not fiction: Oil and gas will continue to play a significant role in heating homes, keeping lights on and powering manufacturing for the industrial transition, for decades to come. So, the question today for tomorrow is obvious: Where do we get the oil and gas we will still need?

To better protect and create jobs, apprenticeships, skills, and security, the UK should not be increasing its dependencies on oil and gas imports to fuel its transition. Future energy need should be met by more homegrown supply as the UK decarbonises to meet its climate obligations.

That’s why we call on the UK Government to:  

• Allow the continued exploration and extraction from new and existing oil and gas fields, so long as we require oil and gas to help meet our energy needs. 

• Develop a fair tax regime for the sector that secures investment for the energy transition and strengthens all parts of the UK’s wider energy and manufacturing industries.

• Urgently engage with offshore unions and employers for a real-world oil and gas plan to fuel the UK’s transition, with worker voice front and centre of its development.

If you agree, sign our petition, join GMB and get involved with the campaign for a future for UK oil and gas.