UKOOG welcomes the continued recognition of the benefits of indigenous oil and gas production in the CCC’s Sixth Carbon Budget

9 December 2020

Responding to the release of the Climate Change Committee's Sixth Carbon Budget, Ken Cronin, Chief Executive of UKOOG, said:

"We are encouraged to see a continued and recognised role for oil and gas throughout the energy transition in today's sixth carbon budget recommendation.

"One concerning aspect is that under the 'Balanced' scenario, in the absence of increased domestic hydrocarbon production, we would need to import £210bn worth of oil and gas to fuel a net zero economy to 2050 - one sixth of the cost of the net zero policy itself.

"We agree with the Committee's assessment that "UK industries should face a level playing field under the UK's ambitious targets"; it is simply not acceptable for carbon intensive imports to flood the UK whilst our domestic industry faces ever greater regulatory burdens and costs, especially at a time when British businesses will be recovering from the economic storm of 2020.

"We note that the Committee has put forward a large number of potential routes to decarbonisation. Ultimately, the policies that the Government chooses must be acceptable to both the consumer and the taxpayer in terms of cost and disruption. Our view on this remains the same: affordably produced hydrogen from natural gas should be used in industry, homes and transport with a careful consideration as to where the natural gas is sourced. Through heavily regulated indigenous onshore production, the CCC's fear of imported LNG fuelling a blue hydrogen revolution need not be founded. UK shale gas generates just one quarter of the pre-combustion emissions that LNG creates, making it well-placed to help achieve our net zero goal.

"We are pleased to see that domestic shale gas production has been included within the CCC's 'Widespread Innovation' scenario. An ambitious a target as net zero within 30 years needs as much innovation as possible."

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