The government has fired the starting gun on a sweeping overhaul of the North Sea with a plan that aims to protect today’s workers and build tomorrow’s clean energy powerhouse.
The North Sea Future Plan sets out how the basin will stay productive for decades while ending new oil and gas exploration and shifting the workforce into fast-growing sectors.
The government says the era of drift is over. Ministers argue that declining reserves and the loss of more than 70,000 jobs in the last decade make a managed transition essential to stop communities sliding into long-term decline.
The plan locks in Labour’s manifesto pledge to manage existing fields for their full lifespan and to stop issuing new licences to explore fresh reserves.
That places the UK at the front of global efforts to meet the science that says new fossil fuel exploration is incompatible with holding temperature rise to 1.5C.
To keep existing assets running, Labour will introduce Transitional Energy Certificates that allow limited extra production tied only to current fields and infrastructure.
There will be no new exploration and no expansion beyond areas already mapped so the industry can plan without guessing what the rules might be.
Workers sit at the centre of the package with a new North Sea Jobs Service launching next year to steer people into roles across clean energy, defence and advanced manufacturing.
The service will offer tailored career support, training routes and real job placements built off the Energy Skills Passport and a £20 million UK-Scottish funding pot.
Ministers say this is the first national job-to-job programme designed specifically for oil and gas communities. They argue it gives workers clarity on future careers instead of leaving them to fend for themselves as demand for fossil fuels declines.
A new minister-led delivery board will oversee the transition with unions, industry figures and regulators at the table.
Its job will be to keep long-term planning tight and ensure that the promises made to workers are backed by delivery on the ground.
Clean energy is the growth engine Labour wants to anchor in the North Sea. The basin has already drawn more than £62 billion of private investment since July 2024 and sits alongside £63 billion of government funding confirmed earlier this year.
A five-year supply chain plan will map out a pipeline of projects so companies can invest with confidence.
Ministers say this industrial strategy could unlock 1.1 million jobs over the next decade with demand for skills that oil and gas workers already have.
Regulatory changes will give the North Sea Transition Authority a new mandate to balance economic value with net zero goals and the long-term interests of workers and supply chains.
The regulator says the plan brings clarity after years of uncertainty and gives industry the direction it needs to power the next chapter.
North Sea rescue plan outlined appeared first on Energy Live News.