UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, at a Downing Street press conference, insisted that the UK will have to increase its domestic gas and oil production to reduce dependence on Russian resources.
This is despite the opposition of climate campaigners and some scepticism in the cabinet.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global oil and gas prices have soared, with the price of Brent crude at $139 a barrel – its highest level in 14 years – bringing the average petrol price to a record high of 155p a litre.
The price of gas has soared by 70% since Friday to 800p a therm – 20 times its level two years ago. The extraction of oil and gas off the coast of the UK may be more economically viable with high oil and gas prices.
Although critics say it would take two decades to ramp up significantly and would have a little immediate effect on the impending rise in domestic energy bills, Johnson said that the UK was looking at increasing North Sea output.
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According to the prime minister, “One of the things we are looking at is the possibility of using more of our own hydrocarbons, and you’ll have heard already about what the business secretary has had to say about licences for UK domestic production”.
He said, “That doesn’t mean we are abandoning our commitment to reducing CO2 … We have got to reflect the reality that there is a crunch on now. We need to intensify our self-reliance as a transition with more hydrocarbons.”
Johnson noted that he intends to set out an energy supply strategy in the coming days so that people could have a sense of how the government was going to meet their needs over the short, medium, and long term.
He insisted that while the increased focus on North Sea production would not undermine the UK’s push for net-zero, it was a necessary move to ease the transition to renewables and nuclear.
While he maintained that a ban on Russian fossil fuels was “very much on the table, he also agreed that it could not be immediate and needed to be done “step by step”, with countries each going at their own pace.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
