New British Prime Minister may authorize oil and gas exploration in the North Sea

According to the BBC, Burnham will announce plans for new drilling in the North Sea. The Labor Party manifesto for 2024, which the new leader said he followed, promised not to issue new licenses but to honor existing ones. At the center of the debate are two oil and gas fields in Scotland, Rosebank and Jackdaw. Both were approved by regulators in 2022 and 2023 under the then-Conservative UK government, but were revoked in 2025 after a court challenge.

The Financial Times reports that Burnham will maintain a ban on new exploration licenses in the region. With the new administration under pressure to reduce household bills, party deputy leader Lucy Powell said on Sunday (19/7) that fossil fuels from the North Sea will form part of Britain's energy mix.

But she insisted that Burnham would not revoke the Labor Party's pledge to end new exploration licenses in the North Sea. “Andy has made it clear that he maintains the policies of our election program on this.”

Yesterday the new prime minister announced some names for his cabinet. Ed Miliband, Starmer's energy secretary, will take over the foreign affairs portfolio, reports the Guardian. A former Labor leader, Miliband has been a prominent supporter of the UK's carbon neutrality agenda and continues to support the government's renewable energy transition while taking on one of the country's most senior diplomatic roles, according to Invezz.

Even if Burnham does not grant new licenses for fossil fuel exploration in the North Sea, the mere possibility of the Prime Minister authorizing drilling in areas already granted is cause for criticism. For Flossie Boyd, senior campaigner at Global Witness, Burnham's new plans for North Sea oil are “going to leave anyone's mouth open”.

"As firefighters battle wildfires across the country and families fear for their children's future after three intense heatwaves, it is incomprehensible that Andy Burnham appears poised to approve the oil and gas production that drives these climate extremes. Not only would more oil and gas in the North Sea destroy our claims to climate leadership, it would do nothing to reduce energy bills, boost the economy or create jobs. The only beneficiaries of this moral and political error would be the giant fossil fuel companies," he said. Flossie.

"Fossil fuels are a thing of the past. If Burnham wants to protect families and safeguard our energy security, she needs to leave oil and gas in the ground and instead boost investment in wind, solar and green jobs in the UK."

Telegraph, Daily Mail, CNN Brasil and CNBC also shared Andy Burnham's plans.