Is UK oil and gas really cleaner than imports?

Amid obvious and escalating climate impacts, some supporters of more North Sea drilling – including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch – have sought to claim that UK oil and gas production is ‘better for the environment’ because it reduces our reliance on ‘dirtier’ imports.

The claim is one that has been made by successive Conservative leaders to justify more domestic production. It is deeply misleading.

UK oil and gas production is not better for the environment than imports 

The repeated claim that domestic production is better for the climate than importing it is deeply misleading. It compares UK oil and gas to the very dirtiest gas imports (LNG) which make up a minority of the UK’s overall imports. 

These comparisons tell us only how polluting the gas was to produce. Once it’s burned and in our atmosphere the differences are negligible. When taking into account the emissions from combusting the gas, North Sea gas emissions are only about 15% lower than LNG. 

The overwhelming majority (69% in 2025) of the UK’s total gas imports come via pipeline from Norway, where gas production is almost four times less polluting – or emissions-intensive – than UK gas production. Norway halted practices like emergency flaring of gas decades ago, whereas it currently still takes place in the UK. 

Norway has also halted polluting practices like emergency flaring of gas decades ago, whereas it currently still takes place in the UK. 

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UK dependence on imports is set to increase regardless of new drilling ‍

The claim to be able to displace ‘dirtier’ gas imports with ‘cleaner’ UK gas production is also largely redundant: after 50 years of drilling, the UK has burned most of its gas and will be increasingly dependent on gas imports as the North Sea declines. 

According to official projections – even if new North Sea fields are developed – the UK’s reliance on imported gas is set to rise from 55% today to more than two-thirds dependent by 2030, and over 90% dependent on gas imports by 2050. 

In their 14 years in power, the Conservatives explicitly sought to ‘max out’ the North Sea, issuing hundreds of new licences, which have to date produced just over a month’s worth of extra gas. 

UK oil makes up the majority of the North Sea’s remaining reserves and the vast majority (over 80%) of it is exported, therefore doing very little to displace imports. The carbon intensity of UK production, per barrel of oil, is also increasing, according to industry analysts Rystad.

No such thing as clean oil or gas

Ultimately, there is no such thing as ‘clean’ oil or gas. The climate science is clear that existing global oil and gas reserves already far exceed what can be safely burned in a world committed to limiting warming to 1.5°C – making new North Sea drilling incompatible with a safe climate and the UK’s international climate commitments.

The conflict in Iran causing people’s energy bills to skyrocket yet again, combined with the visible reality of climate change - massive wildfires; thousands of excess heat related deaths, drought conditions driving up food prices - should be a wake up call. 

The case has never been clearer for investment in clean, secure energy. More drilling will not cut our energy bills, a fact former conservative ministers have admitted, or make us more secure. It will only increase profits for oil and gas companies while driving the climate crisis. 

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