Greg Jackson, the founder of Octopus Energy, is calling on Ed Miliband to reopen the North Sea to fossil fuel extraction to strengthen the country’s energy supplies as war in the Middle East pushes oil and gas prices higher.

Writing for The Telegraph, Jackson said that the UK needs ‘sovereign energy’, and a pragmatic approach over ideology, adding that it was pointless to ship oil and gas from around the world.

Jackson is a non-executive director of the Cabinet Office Board, which might make for some interesting conversations. Jackson has also, according to the article, been critical of some other ‘net zero’ schemes such as carbon capture and hydrogen.

The article states that “Britain is staring down the barrel of another potential energy crisis” with Jackson adding: “We should use what’s available from the North Sea. While the price is set globally, there’s no point shipping gas from the other side of the world when we have it here.”

This puts the CEO of Octopus Energy at odds with e CEO of Naked Energy, Christophe Williams, who said: “Calls to ‘just use more North Sea gas’ are false comfort. UK produced gas is sold at international prices, so it does not insulate us from global shocks. And the remaining reserves are nowhere near large enough to protect the UK from disruption in global supply routes.”

Which ignores the extra revenue from taxation that could help subside bills. But the two agree that the longer-term solution is to cut gas demand with renewables and efficiency.

Jackson goes further, calling for a reform of electricity markets and reassess new grids and networks as technological advances mean that demand is falling and existing infrastructure can be better harnessed.

Finally, be contrasts Norway’s use of oil to speed its transition (as is China) with the UK’s strategy on transition.

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