Viewpoint: Why we Should Stop Importing Gas to the UK and Produce it Ourselves

Andrew Jamieson and Geoff Maitland warn that importing gas from Norway instead of developing domestic supplies from the UK North Sea is a serious strategic, economic and employment misstep – and falls short of delivering a just transition to net zero

WITH the flurry of headline-grabbing news nationally and internationally over the past few weeks it is perhaps unsurprising that the announcement of the Centrica deal, worth £20bn (US$27bn) over a ten-year timeline, for the importation of gas from Norway to the UK got minimal coverage in the mainstream media. Nevertheless, given the government’s focus on economic growth and the creation of highly skilled, well-paid jobs, the deal’s impact on domestic gas production and employment raises serious concerns.

It is generally acknowledged that gas will continue to be a part of the UK’s energy mix for the next two decades, but the government has implemented a ban on new field exploration and production in the North Sea. Coming on top of the previous government’s imposition of windfall taxes, increased by the current government, this has resulted in the reduction of highly paid and skilled jobs by North Sea operators and led to the increased need for importation of gas from Norway.

This also impacts the already distressed balance of payments, let alone weakening our control over energy security. While the North Sea is a declining resource asset, there are significant hydrocarbon reserves yet to be discovered and developed which, by utilising carbon capture and storage (CCS) when gas is used for peak power, hydrogen production and industrial processes, can be done in a way which is compatible with the drive to net zero. Government-backed CCS projects underway in the northeast and northwest of England, as well as in Scotland – including the world’s first CCS gas-fired power plant – will play a vital role in supporting a just transition. They offer continued employment for skilled workers, economic benefits for local communities, and broader gains for the nation.

CCS is not a mechanism and excuse for prolonging the use of fossil fuels. It is a technology which, until sufficient low/zero carbon electricity and manufacturing processes using renewable (bio)feedstocks are available, can enable us to continue to decarbonise and meet our decreasing carbon budgets in a way that relies more on the UK’s own natural resources and maintains and creates jobs and economic prosperity. This approach will help to ensure that this inevitably long and challenging transition to net zero is a just one for as many in the UK (and across the world) as possible.

We need to continue to use gas but there is no virtue in importing it from Norway, which produces it from the same North Sea that we are abandoning. Not supporting new exploitation of our reserves there, while investing in growing CCS deployment, is misguided. Domestic gas production and use require a long-term, systems-thinking approach from government to avoid unintended consequences and recognise that today’s energy policy decisions will adversely impact value-adding sectors for decades to come.