Ratcliffe’s INEOS calls on Labour to reopen North Sea drilling
The chemical group owned by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has urged the government to reopen the North Sea for drilling as it lashes out at its latest energy cost scheme for businesses.
INEOS, which was founded by Ratcliffe in 1998, said Labour’s British Industrial Competitiveness scheme (BICS) fails to address UK industries relying “far more heavily on gas than electricity”.
BICS is an initiative which allows manufacturing companies to apply for a cut of up to 25 per cent on their electricity costs. The government first announced the scheme, which opened for applications on Thursday, in June 2025 as part of its modern industrial strategy to unlock economic growth and give businesses “breathing space”.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the scheme will “help companies spend less on energy and more on growing their business”.
But INEOS said this was a “fundamental misunderstanding” from the government over what companies truly need amid rising gas and oil prices.
UK natural gas prices have climbed eight times higher than those in the US over the past two weeks. Domestic prices have hovered at £18 per unit, compared to just £2.19 in North America.
“This is destroying our manufacturing base, threatening skilled jobs and increasing the UK’s dependency on carbon-intensive imports,” said an INEOS spokesperson.
“Unless this imbalance is addressed, we will only see further decline.”
Domestic gas projects
The petrochemicals giant reiterated calls to the government to lift restrictions on North Sea drilling and approve both the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields.
The spokesperson said: “We urge the government to support industry through the levers it has available today: provide fiscal relief by reducing carbon costs; open the North Sea to strengthen UK energy independence; and accelerate the introduction of safeguards to protect industry from unfair imports.”
Ratcliffe himself has also previously warned that a failure to invest in domestic energy is “insanity”, and that the UK could run out of gas this winter if storage remains low, criticising Burnham’s hesitation to approve the projects.
“You would expect [the government] to exploit our natural resources and we’re clearly not doing that. We’re shutting it down,” Ratcliffe said in an interview with the BBC.