Explainer: Why are energy prices so high? October 2, 2025 Energy prices for consumers across the UK rose again this month. Ofgem, the energy regulator, set the maximum annual rate for an average household for gas and electricity at £1,755 until the end of the year. The cap is now over £600 higher than when it was first introduced in 2019. Under the cap, [...]
Has the wind shifted on Net Zero? October 2, 2025 Once upon a time the promise of Net Zero enjoyed such universal support that a Tory government signed the UK’s Net Zero pledge into law. Today, the Tories say they’d scrap it – while alarm bells are ringing as the costs of the policy become clearer. In June 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May passed a [...]
Remove windfall taxes on North Sea oil, bosses tell Rachel Reeves October 2, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves should abolish windfall taxes on oil and gas producers in the North Sea, top bosses have said. In a new report setting out UK businesses’ proposals for the Budget, the Chancellor has been urged to focus on cutting energy costs for firms and set out a clearer plan for the North Sea’s [...]
Kemi Badenoch doubles down on North Sea oil drilling pledges September 2, 2025 Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch will pledge to make North Sea oil a “cornerstone” of the UK economy amid concerns producers have “much more to do” to reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades. In a speech to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Offshore Europe conference in Scotland, Badenoch will tell industry officials that she [...]
Change windfall tax to make £137bn by 2050, Chancellor told September 1, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to reform the windfall tax in a move that could boost the economy by £137bn by 2050. Ahead of the start of its conference in Aberdeen this week, trade body Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) released a report claiming replacing the energy profits levy next year with a profits-based mechanism [...]
Ed Miliband forced to look again at North Sea oil and gas June 19, 2025 The UK government is mulling over a change to the law to oil and gas projects in the North Sea in a drive to lower energy bills. Michael Shanks, a minister working under energy secretary Ed Miliband, will be visiting Scotland on Thursday with a decision set to be made on the government’s intervention on [...]
North Sea windfall tax causing ‘irreversible damage’ says oil giant May 27, 2025 The boss of Enquest has slammed the windfall tax on oil and gas firms as doing “irreversible damage” to the industry and “driving job losses across the sector”. Amjad Bseisu, Enquest’s chief executive, called for the North Sea tax to be scrapped in an operations update on Tuesday after claiming it makes the UK a [...]
Trump condemns UK net zero push May 23, 2025 Donald Trump has publicly criticised the UK’s net zero policy, saying it is disincentivising oil drilling and needlessly inflating energy prices. In an unusual intervention, the US President said that the UK’s North Sea reserves still had “a century of drilling left”, which if tapped would help bring costs down, “and fast”. “I strongly recommend [...]
Centrica: British gas owner to sell stake in North Sea gas field to Ithaca Energy May 20, 2025 Centrica has announced plans to sell off a big chunk of its holding in the Cygnus gas field in the southern North Sea. The deal will see Spirit Energy – a subsidiary of Centrica – offload its 46.25 per cent stake in the site for around £215m to Ithaca Energy. Centrica, which owns British Gas, [...]
Orsted axes Hornsea 4 offshore wind project May 7, 2025 Ørsted has announced plans to ditch the Hornsea 4 offshore wind project in a big blow to the UK’s clean power ambitions. The Danish renewable energy company said it would incur break-away costs of between 3.5bn to 4.5bn Danish krone (£400m to £512m) as a result of the decision. Ørsted said the 2,400MW project had [...]