The UK government has published legislation that would end the granting of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, marking a proposed change to the future of offshore drilling in the region.
The measure has been brought forward by Labour ministers and is intended to prevent new licences from being issued for North Sea oil and gas activity. The legislation forms the basis of the government’s plan to outlaw new North Sea drilling.
The proposal concerns the granting of new licences rather than existing permissions, although the supplied material does not provide further details about how current licences would be affected. It also does not set out a timetable for the legislation or explain the next stage of its progress.
The latest known position is that the legislation has been published by the government. Further information about its parliamentary passage, implementation and effect on North Sea operations was not included in the supplied material.
