Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether domestic production has a lower lifecycle emissions intensity than imported liquefied natural gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have modelled the emissions implications of replacing domestic production with imported liquefied natural gas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) published analysis in September 2025 comparing the emissions intensity of domestically produced gas with imported liquefied natural gas. This analysis is available on the NSTA’s website. In 2024, domestic gas production made up 43% of gross supply, LNG imports accounted for 14%, with the remainder coming from pipeline imports – principally from Norway.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of issuing no new oil and gas exploration licences on (1) supply chain capacity, and (2) retention of skilled offshore workers.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government aims to ensure our oil and gas workers and supply chain can take advantage of our energy transition, creating a global blueprint for a transition that supports prosperity, jobs, economic growth, communities and energy security.
In the North Sea Future Plan, the government committed to develop support for supply chain businesses, investors, and workers to help them benefit from a pipeline of projects across the North Sea and in the UK’s energy future. We are also developing a world-class North Sea Jobs Service to provide end-to-end support for oil and gas workers to move into growing industries.
Asked by: Lord Ashcombe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK energy import dependency of issuing no new oil and gas exploration licences.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We became a net importer of energy in 2004. Given the maturity of the basin, and the high proportion of future production projected to come from existing developments versus new developments and discoveries, further licensing in the North Sea would not reverse the basin’s natural decline.