Energy Minister Michael Shanks delivered a speech at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Offshore Europe Conference 2025 with a balancing act.

Attempting to keep the tradition oil and gas companies onside he praised their work in fossil fuel extraction whilst also attempting to paint a picture of a renewable future.

He stated: “But this cannot ever be a binary choice between one industry or another. And so, even as we go all out for clean power, oil and gas will continue to play a crucial role for decades to come. That is not just my view, but it’s the expert view of the Independent Climate Change Committee too. And so, we will support businesses to manage existing fields for the entirety of their lifespan.”

So, what was he actually saying? There were the usual bingo words about “taking back control of our energy security’”, a “diverse energy system’”, of course “creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the industries of the future” and finally “showing much needed leadership in the fight against irreversible climate change”.

Yet the overall message was of slowly retiring exploration in favour of offshore renewables, carbon capture and hydrogen. Overall, and if the Government actually follows through, this could be good news for renewables, as energy production and its associated supply chains grow.

It may annoy the ‘stop it now’ advocates and surely places blue water between the Labour position and those of Reform or the Conservatives, but it does leave a difficult situation where global oil and gas consumption will be what it is, just that the UK’s share of that will decline. A point that Kemi Badenoch has made forcefully a number of times with a promise to "maximise" oil and gas extraction.

In a way, Shanks own words convey the muddle best: “There is a real diversity of opinion in this city and in this room, and that is a great thing. It is a healthy part of both our democracy and your industry, and we will work with every single one of you to achieve our shared goal, a prosperous North Sea and one that powers the UK’s energy future.”

So that’s a clear plan then.

---