UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has scaled back proposals to deregulate North Sea oil and gas extraction after civil servants cautioned on breaches of international law, Bloomberg has reported.
The initial proposals, which were part of the discussions ahead of today’s King’s Speech, included measures to ease environmental assessments and shorten public consultation periods on environmental regulation changes.
However, these proposals were met with warnings from civil servants about the legal ramifications, citing the UK's obligations to numerous international environmental treaties.
The government is positioning its push for North Sea deregulation as part of its broader strategy to address the cost-of-living crisis, attempting to present policy choices as protective measures for financially strained voters.
Sunak asserted that maximising North Sea extraction could lower household bills in the long term.
This claim was contested by industry experts and energy and net zero secretary Claire Coutinho, who expressed doubts about the policy's impact on energy bills when interviewed by the BBC on Monday.
As part of the proposals, the government disclosed legislation that will mandate annual licensing rounds for oil and gas projects in the North Sea, supposedly aimed at providing a more predictable framework for the energy industry.
Greenpeace has pledged to challenge the licensing rounds through legal action, labelling them as regressive.
Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary for energy security, criticised the proposals as a "reckless political manoeuvre", asserting that they would fail to reduce expenses or ensure energy reliability.
"Britain is no stranger to North Sea oil and gas licensing, yet it's this very reliance on fossil fuels that has precipitated the most severe cost of living crisis we've seen in decades," Miliband remarked earlier this week.
Sunak is expected to touch on his cabinet’s North Sea strategy during the King’s Speech later today.