Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has denied he has pulled rank over the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) by cancelling licences still going through a licensing round started by the Tories.
A story in the Telegraph yesterday said that Miliband had banned the NSTA from issuing any more licences, but reports today coming from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it was not true.
Miliband’s department told City AM: “This piece is a complete fabrication – it invents meetings and decisions that have not taken place.
“As previously stated, we will not issue new licences to explore new fields. We will also not revoke existing oil and gas licences and will manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan."
According to the Telegraph, applications were received in the 33rd round for 115 bids to drill across 257 blocks of the North Sea, Irish Sea and East Atlantic with around 35 still outstanding though today's reports said that number was five.
A spokesperson for the North Sea regulator told City AM: “We will follow the policy direction of the government of the day.”.
Before the election, it said: “Further consideration is being given to a small number of remaining applications and a few more may be offered at a later date".