OEUK welcomes new UK prime minister
Liz Truss, the UK's newly-appointed Conservative prime minister, has been welcomed into office by trade body Offshore Energies UK, which foresees a chance to "renew" the nation's energy security and accelerate its transition to cleaner energy sources.
Energy security and prices following Russia's tightening of the screws on European gas markets will be among the biggest priorities for Truss initially. The prime minister acknowledged this in her victory speech, and has vowed to help consumers this winter through the expected cost-of-living crunch.
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Truss fended off a serious challenge from the former UK chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak to win office, winning over fewer votes with the Conservative Party electorate than many observers had anticipated.
The narrower margin of her victory appears to have prompted a U-turn on consumer energy prices. Later on September 6, UK public broadcaster the BBC reported Truss was considering limiting the maximum tariff for gas and electricity in the typical British household to around £2,500/yr, from the £3,549/yr representative cap set out by OFGEM last month, potentially borrowing billions against the national account to fund the reduction.
Truss is still to officially confirm early reports of her energy policy. But her decisions could ultimately affect upstream oil and gas investments responsible for some 200,000 UK industry jobs.
Aside from the price cap Truss will also be expected to balance short term energy priorities with longer-term strategic thinking on the energy transition. There is increased pressure to remove the link between natural gas wholesale rates and the UK's consumer billing framework, which proponents say could allow renewables production to be priced more effectively. Truss has also pledged continued support for UK North Sea exploration, which OEUK says could produce enough hydrocarbons to last until the 2040's, supporting the UK's green transition.
Mike Tholen, acting CEO of OEUK, said: "We welcome Liz Truss to her new role and wish her all the very best in challenging times. A big prime ministerial inbox awaits, on top of which sits UK energy security and its critical place in countering the threat from Putin’s weaponisation of energy.
"As the new PM has said, we need to find a two-pronged solution both in the short- and long-term to the energy crisis. OEUK and our members remain steadfast partners for government and we work with political parties of all colours to ensure we carefully nurture and invest in our homegrown oil and gas industry and boost its enablement of our transition to a renewable future.
"We look forward to meeting with the new PM and her top team shortly and ensuring our members are front and centre of the conversations and the solutions.”