Tue, 25 Nov 2025

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 North Sea drilling restrictions to be relaxed in new Labour plan

The chancellor will unveil the North Sea Strategy in her Budget speech, the BBC understands.

* The strategy will confirm the government's plan to lift its moratorium on new drilling for oil and gas in a way that allows new areas to be tied back to existing infrastructure.
* This approach is expected to increase the chances of approval for the Rosebank field, a controversial project that has been the subject of a separate regulatory process.
* The relaxation in rules will allow operators to access previously unlicensed seabed areas and potentially create thousands of jobs.
* The industry has been lobbying for changes to the windfall tax, which is due to expire in 2030, but is expected to be phased out earlier.
* A "cap and floor" mechanism that would kick in if oil prices returned to high levels is seen as a possible solution.
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