The UK government’s latest claims on Rosebank state that oil will be sold on the international market rather than to UK consumers.
Ministers previously stated that the Rosebank oilfield will help improve UK energy security and help UK consumers.
However as reported by the Guardian, the government responded to a question in Parliament stating that private companies will sell the oil internationally as “it is not desirable to force private companies to ‘allocate’ oil and gas produced in the North Sea for domestic use”.
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Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who submitted the parliamentary question, said: “This government’s answer proves Rosebank is not about supplying the UK with oil and gas, it’s purely another gimmick designed to appeal to a section of the electorate which has no concern for either the future of the planet or their own children.
“But that is why we need to plan the transition carefully and fairly, not abandon it and add yet more carbon pollution to the atmosphere,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that as a “net importer” it makes sense for the UK to use “home-grown British resources to manage the decline in domestic oil and gas production in a way that reduces our vulnerability to hostile states”.
“We will continue to back the UK’s oil and gas industry, which underpins our energy security, supports up to 200,000 jobs, and will provide around £50 billion in tax revenue over the next five years – helping fund our transition to net zero,” the spokesperson continued.
