Green energy boss backs more North Sea oil and gas production

## Summary
GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA View image in fullscreen GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Green energy boss backs more North Sea oil and gas production GB Energy chief Jürgen Maier says boost could bring economic benefits amid energy cost crisis and actually help transition from fossil fuels The head of the UK’s national green energy champion has joined other high-profile renewable energy leaders in making the case for more North Sea oil and gas production as the government braces for an energy cost crisis. GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier used a social media post on LinkedIn to reject the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help to bring down energy costs which have soared as the war in Iran has escalated.

## Article Content
GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues.
Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
View image in fullscreen
GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues.
Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Green energy boss backs more North Sea oil and gas production
GB Energy chief Jürgen Maier says boost could bring economic benefits amid energy cost crisis and actually help transition from fossil fuels
The head of the UK’s national green energy champion has joined other high-profile renewable energy leaders in making the case for more North Sea oil and gas production as the government braces for an energy cost crisis.
GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier used a
social media post on LinkedIn
to reject the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help to bring down energy costs which have soared as the war in Iran has escalated.
But he argued that an increase in North Sea production could bring a string of economic benefits to the UK, including more jobs and higher tax revenues. Based on these economic benefits, he said he was “a supporter” of a well-managed energy transition including “all energy”.
Maier later clarified in a
separate post
that he was “fully supportive” of the government’s ban on exploration licences for new oil and gasfields.
The UK sleepwalked into this energy price shock | Nils Pratley
Read more
He said the government’s plan to use existing fields and tiebacks – which allow new deposits of oil or gas to be extracted if they can be reached from existing infrastructure - for their lifetime was “consistent with an ‘All Energy’ approach to the transition” that would “give the supply chain companies enough time to transition” while renewables remained the “end game”, he added.
The government and GB Energy were approached for comment.
The comments follow backing for more North Sea oil and gas production from other high-profile green energy leaders, including Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson and the new chief executive of RenewableUK, Tara Singh.
Singh used an editorial in the Daily Telegraph last week to
argue that Britain should produce more energy “of every kind”
and said it was time “to take energy out of the culture wars”.
Jackson, who joined the
Cabinet Office board
last year, told the same newspaper that the UK “needs more sovereign energy” which would require “practical, pragmatic decisions”.
“Ideology, wishful thinking, nostalgia and culture wars don’t provide actual solutions. We should use what’s available from the North Sea,” Jackson said. “While the price is set globally, there’s no point shipping gas from the other side of the world when we have it here.”
Miliband has ruled out new licences for the aging fossil fuel basin, but officials and ministers are still considering whether to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields which were granted licences under the previous government.
.
Senior figures in the North Sea industry expect the fields to be given the go-ahead within the coming weeks, and claim they could begin producing fossil fuels by the end of the year. This outcome would be likely to provoke an outcry from green groups which have campaigned against the fields for years.
One industry source suggested that the go-ahead may come after the upcoming local elections in May, to avoid creating a dividing line between Labour and the Green party which has become
increasingly popular among leftwing voters
.
The government this week
dismissed a warning from energy trade
body Offshore Energies UK that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time of rising global instability.
The warning came as the war in the Middle East entered its fourth week. The escalating conflict has triggered
the biggest oil and gas supply shock
in the history of the market and caused UK gas prices to more than double in under a month.
But the industry’s call for more support to help slow the decline of the North Sea as a provider of energy was rebuffed by the government.
A government spokesperson said: “Issuing new licences to explore new fields cannot give us energy security and
will not take a penny off bills
.”
They added: “Regardless of where it comes from, oil and gas is sold on international markets, which set the price for British billpayers – making us a price taker. The only way to truly protect ourselves from these price spikes is to get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets.”
Explore more on these topics
Renewable energy
Energy
Oil
Gas
Energy industry
Energy bills
Commodities
news
Share
Reuse this content

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues.
- Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA View image in fullscreen GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier rejected the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help bring down energy costs wbut that an increase in North Sea production could bring economic benefits, including more jobs and higher tax revenues.
- Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Green energy boss backs more North Sea oil and gas production GB Energy chief Jürgen Maier says boost could bring economic benefits amid energy cost crisis and actually help transition from fossil fuels The head of the UK’s national green energy champion has joined other high-profile renewable energy leaders in making the case for more North Sea oil and gas production as the government braces for an energy cost crisis.
- GB Energy boss Jürgen Maier used a social media post on LinkedIn to reject the claim that more North Sea oil and gas could help to bring down energy costs which have soared as the war in Iran has escalated.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers energy, north, sea topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 826.