UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng has written to North Sea oil and gas companies urging them to reinvest profits in clean energy technologies for the future in return for opening a new oil and gas leasing round.
Kwarteng (pictured) said that at an upcoming meeting with companies, he would like to see a clear plan on how they will reinvest profits, double down on investments in the clean energy transition and accelerate and maximise domestic oil and gas production.
“Scaling up, accelerating and investing in home-grown energy production will support us in continuing to grow the British economy, create good jobs across the country and crucially bring down consumer bills in the long-term,” he said.
“We need to collectively show the British people how the success of our offshore oil and gas sector has a direct and enduring benefit to the British economy and people’s jobs and livelihood in order to protect the North Sea as a major UK energy asset for decades to come,” he added.