Miliband cancels new drilling licenses in the North Sea. What now?
If Oil & Gas is to be aggressively phased out, what are the implications?
In one stroke of a ministerial pen, the drilling licenses which Sunak had committed to, were cancelled. Miliband for a long time has been an advocate of clean energy and has committed to decarbonizing the national grid, in full, by 2030. At the same time, in a sign this Government are prepared to tackle the NIMBYs head on, previous restrictions regarding on shore wind farms are to be removed and investment into solar power infrastructure is to be trebled. To ensure targets can be hit, Great British Energy is to be formed, which will be a state owned business will be given extensive funding to achieve this goal.
Nonetheless, it is not just the NIMBYs who will be resisting this breakneck transformation. The Unions have raised concerns too. It is estimated that over 120,000 jobs are dependent on North Sea Oil & Gas, and 31% of the national electricity is powered through gas also. Part of the Labour manifesto is also to make the UK energy independent, where the country already imports one third of our power. To eliminate fossil fuels and be energy independent, would result in us needing a 200% increase in power generation, with all this is meant to happen by 2030… It doesn’t feel realistic.
Similarly, it is not clear whether the people who work in Oil & Gas can be en-masse retrained for working in the renewables sector, meaning that the UK risks an economic shock akin to when the coal mines were closed. Especially when you consider that the Labour party have already acknowledged, their investment plans are only going to create 27,000 new jobs, which means for every 1 job created, 5 will be destroyed. Quite literally it means 100,000+ people made redundant as a political decision is made to mothball an industry, whilst in order to source sufficient talent to staff up the renewables sector, tens of thousands of new people are needed to be brought in.
Nonetheless, when looking at the vacancies just over the last few years, what becomes apparent is the rise in recruitment in Alternative Energy this year, where in 2024 there are likely to be double the vacancies for engineers, compared to last year. The big If therefore is whether Labour will actually be able to honour both of their commitments (energy independence + phasing out fossil fuels completely) or not, and whether Starmer will allow Miliband to implement policy on the basis of his environmental ideology, or whether a more pragmatic agenda will prevail.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay updated on emerging global economic trends and their influence on the labour market:
The data referenced above has been sourced from Vacancy Analytics, a cutting-edge Business Intelligence tool that tracks recruitment industry trends and identifies emerging hotspots. With 17 years of experience, we have a deep understanding of market activities in the UK and globally.
Want to unlock the full potential of Vacancy Analytics to fuel your business growth?
Book a 30-minute workshop with us and discover the power of data in shaping the future of your market!
p.s. By the way, if you are a fantasy football fan, why not join our league this season? With over 50 people already registered, we will be doing prizes for the winner and for the manager of the month if we hit 100+. Get involved!