King’s Speech: Ministers ban North Sea oil and gas exploration Energy The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a barrage of criticism that the policy is depriving the UK of billions of pounds in tax [...]
Government is not lacking in nuclear ambition – so why is nothing happening? Opinion If you were to go by ministerial speeches, nuclear is at the heart of Britain's energy ambitions. So why is nothing happening?
From Net Zero to Nuclear: the skills gap that could stall UK growth Partner The UK has no shortage of ambition when it comes to infrastructure. From Net Zero commitments and energy security to rail modernisation, water resilience and nuclear new build, the pipeline of nationally significant projects is substantial. Yet beneath the headlines lies a constraint that threatens to undermine delivery across all of them: a critical shortage [...]
Energy tycoon fires up UK gas storage project September 22, 2025 An Irish energy tycoon has revealed plans to build a new gas storage site in the Irish Sea that would boost the UK’s capacity by over 50 per cent. Tony O’Reilly Jr’s Dcarbonx, which is backed by gas infrastructure behemoth Snam, wants to redevelop a former gas site off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness as part [...]
Grid connection for clean energy firms to be fast-tracked, ministers say April 15, 2025 Grid connections for businesses delivering clean energy are to be prioritised, ministers have said. The government has said so-called ‘zombie projects’ which hold up the queue for National Grid connectivity are set to be axed from the waiting list. While industries including data centres and AI, wind energy and solar projects will be accelerated for [...]
What could a peace deal for Ukraine mean for Europe’s economy? February 17, 2025 Whatever settlement emerges from current negotiations around Ukraine will shape not just Europe’s security future, but it’s economy too, says Andrew Hammond Some three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, action on the battlefield remains high pitched. Yet, the fundamental topic at the Munich Security Conference in recent days has been growing signals of a [...]
Cut taxes for BP and Shell to protect UK from Trump’s trade war, Rachel Reeves told February 6, 2025 Oil giants such as BP and Shell who operate in the North Sea should be given huge tax breaks to help protect the UK against Donald Trump’s burgeoning trade war, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told. Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is calling on the UK government to reduce the 78 per cent tax [...]
British Gas owner Centrica helps back £300m UK energy first June 13, 2024 Centric, the owner of British Gas, has helped raised £300m for the first commercial-scale liquid air energy storage (LAES) plant in the UK.
Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband ‘not aware’ Russia found oil and gas in Antarctic May 17, 2024 Ed Miliband has said he is “not aware” of the reports Russia discovered huge oil and gas reserves in the British Antarctic territories.