British Gas Boss: Drill the North Sea to Bring Down Energy Prices
The head of British Gas, Chris O’Shea, has become the latest industry figure to contradict Ed Miliband’s claim that drilling the North Sea won’t bring down energy prices by calling on the Government to do precisely that. The Telegraph has more.
The head of British Gas has called on the Government to drop its ban on exploiting untapped oil and gas fields in the North Sea, saying the move would help ease spiralling energy costs.
Chris O’Shea, the Chief Executive of Centrica, which owns British Gas, said an increase in drilling would play a role in efforts to bolster energy resilience after the Iran war sent prices surging.
He said: “I do think that we should look at producing the resources that we have got ourselves. It makes sense. If you’ve got resources, you should.
“It’s not a silver bullet; nothing in and of itself will fix this. But these activities will bring prices down. It would definitely make a difference.”
Asked if increasing North Sea flows would help to lower bills, O’Shea told the BBC it would be sufficient to “make a difference across Europe.”
He said exploiting remaining reserves should be part of a wider strategy that would also include bolstering emergency gas storage.
He said: “There is a need to focus on energy security. I think we need to look at getting more gas storage, we need to look at getting more home-grown renewables and more batteries.”
Centrica is no longer involved in drilling for oil but owns the Rough natural gas storage facility off the east coast of England, which, though largely operational after years of closure, is scheduled to be converted to hold hydrogen as part of Labour’s net zero push.
Mr O’Shea joins a growing chorus of experts calling on Labour to rethink its stance on the North Sea.
Greg Jackson, head of energy giant Octopus and a member of the Government’s industrial strategy advisory council, has said ministers must ditch “wishful thinking” and “ideology” to keep prices stable and avoid “economic damage”.
Make UK, which represents thousands of manufacturers, has urged ministers to give the green light to drilling or risk a further spike in energy costs.
Tara Singh, head of RenewableUK, the wind industry lobby, has also called for a rethink on Labour’s North Sea policy.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has nevertheless dismissed calls to exploit the UK’s remaining oil supplies, claiming that to do so would have no impact on global prices.
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“Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has nevertheless dismissed calls to exploit the UK’s remaining oil supplies, claiming that to do so would have no impact on global prices.”
However, Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, has nevertheless continued spending huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on Net Zero like a drunken sailor, even though it would have no impact on global temperatures.
Sigh. Listen to me Milibrain! There is no international price for gas!!!
If we reach self sufficiency, easily achievable with the North Sea plus onshore shale, the marginal price (which sets the wholsesale price) will plummet as there would be zero imports required.
If Milibrain had an apple tree in his garden, he would probably ban his family from picking the fruit and insist they buy apples from the supermarket, preferably imported ones.
Correct. —–The man is a liar and a charlatan that licks the asses of the UN and their global warming scam
Pfffft! What does O’Shea know about it? He only runs the biggest gas supply company in the country.
I will take the word of a marxist career politician with a philosophy degree, thank you very much!
How can you ignore a mustache like that!
“There is a need to focus on energy security,” says Mr O’Shea. Quite. And that is part of Miliband’s remit. The part that he either deliberately ignores or doesn’t understand.
Let’s wind forward 3-5 years – where is Ed going to be ‘working’ do we think… the UN, the WEF, some other god forsaken think tank or other like the Tony Bliar one… he planning ahead, that’s all
Miliband’s future career prospects in the Globalist Eco Quangocracy depends on him destroying our energy security with the Net Zero SCAM.
He is buying his highly lucrative future with OUR money and OUR energy security.
Sadly, you are absolutely spot-on. What need for Masonic/Rosicrucian/Illuminati/Reptilian conspiracy theories, when the incentive driving our politicians is right there in the open?
All they want is a lifetime access-all-areas pass to the never-ending private-jet/private-lounge/WEF-and-adjacent global beanfeast. (See, e.g. Jacinda Ardern). That means they have to stick closely to the Global Creed – and reality can go screw itself. It’s almost Gnostic in its stupidity.
Miliband has an agenda. It is to reduce CO2 emissions in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Agenda and NET ZERO which has been enshrined in UK Law since 2019. —-So anything Miliband says is in support and defence of this agenda.
But the idea that prices will not be lower by using our own gas in the North Sea is a BAREFACED LIE. —-If we import from lets say Qatar, the gas has to first be liquefied, then shipped, and then turned back to gas. All of these things add greatly to the cost of the gas. The UK Government also would receive big tax revenue from our own North Sea Gas and hundreds of thousands of jobs in oil and gas would not be lost. —-Miliband is a total eco socialist impostor that puts compliance with the UN/WEF FIRST and the people he is meant to serve LAST. —–We now have the highest electricity prices in the world because of buffoons like him.
Battery Technology for the Grid is absurd. It would cost 20 times more than the original electricity cost. But renewables and batteries are only for electricity which is just one fifth of energy needs. We still require gas for the 21 million gas boilers in this country and we will need that gas a for a very long time to come.