# Swinney criticises UK move to ban new North Sea drilling

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/swinney-criticises-uk-move-to-ban-new-north-sea-drilling/
- Published: 2026-11-05T15:55:34+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T16:42:59+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC Politics (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crq5nxvx48pjo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: Government, Politics, UK, World

## Key points

- Swinney opposes the UK ban on new North Sea licences.
- The SNP plans to try to remove the ban from the bill.
- Existing fields could still produce an estimated 60 million barrels.

## Summary

First Minister John Swinney has rejected the UK government’s plan to stop new oil and gas exploration licences in the North Sea, saying domestic production may be reasonable while the UK continues using fossil fuels. The disagreement matters because the proposed Energy Independence Bill would end the UK regulator’s power to issue new licences, while the SNP says it will seek to remove that ban.

Swinney argued that projects could be considered if their emissions were lower than those from imported fuel, while stressing they must fit Scotland’s carbon reduction targets. This marks a shift from the Scottish government’s 2023 presumption against new drilling and drew criticism from Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay. The bill would still allow existing fields to expand within or near their boundaries; the UK government estimates this could yield about 60 million barrels and support hundreds of jobs. Rosebank, approved in 2022 and now facing legal challenges, is not affected by the proposed ban.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.