Burnham signals pragmatic shift on North Sea oil and gas policy

Andy Burnham is expected to keep Labour's pledge not to issue any new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, while taking a more pragmatic approach to existing production. The position comes as he prepares to enter Downing Street, with the final weekend before his premiership dominated by debate over how far the new government should go on drilling. Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell said the party would stick to its manifesto commitments, but that there would be a change of emphasis on North Sea oil and gas.

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Powell said the government still sees homegrown clean energy as the long-term route to energy security and lower bills. She added that North Sea oil and gas remains an important part of the transition and of the wider energy mix. Her comments suggest Burnham is seeking to balance the party's climate commitments with pressure to support domestic energy supply and the industry that still operates in the basin.

One immediate consequence is that approval for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields is not expected on his first day in office. The operators of both fields were given the go-ahead by the previous Conservative government, but those decisions are now being reconsidered after a successful legal challenge. Environmental groups Greenpeace and Uplift argued that ministers had not fully considered the climate impact of burning the fossil fuels the fields would produce.

The applications are still going through a process at the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, with consultations due to close in August. The issue matters because North Sea policy sits at the intersection of energy security, household bills, industrial jobs and climate policy. A more pragmatic stance could reassure parts of the industry that want clarity on existing licences and ongoing production, while still preserving Labour's promise to stop new exploration.

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It also shows how the incoming government is trying to manage the transition to cleaner power without abruptly cutting off domestic oil and gas supply. The debate is not new. North Sea drilling has long been a political fault line in the UK, with governments balancing the economic value of the basin against legal and environmental pressure to reduce fossil fuel use.

The current row has been sharpened by the court challenge over Rosebank and Jackdaw, which has forced ministers to revisit decisions taken under the previous administration. That means the new government will inherit both a policy question and an active regulatory process. What remains unclear is how Burnham will define the practical limits of this more pragmatic approach, and whether it will lead to any change in the handling of existing licences beyond the pledge already set out.

It is also not yet clear how quickly the government will set out its wider energy strategy once it takes office. The next developments to watch are any formal statement from Burnham, the outcome of the consultations on Rosebank and Jackdaw, and whether the regulator's process leads to further legal or political challenge.

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