Norway cashes in on 134m barrels of North Sea oil as Ed Miliband ends UK exploration

Norway is set to pump in billions of pounds from one of the biggest North Sea oil discoveries in decades despite Ed Miliband pulling the plug on further UK exploration. The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero banned issuing new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea last year.

But now Norwegian company Aker BP has struck it lucky with a huge discovery of an oil field which could yield 134 million barrels of the precious natural resource. The find could be even more galling for the UK oil and gas industry as the new field has been unearthed just a few miles from British waters, meaning it could extend into UK territory.

British oil and gas exploration has been hampered by legal challenges in the courts and Labour's decision to push a Net Zero agenda with solar and wind power. Norway is now Britain's primary source for foreign gas imports and this latest discovery of oil comes in an area of the North Sea previously thought of as well explored.

The Telegraph reports that Aker BP discovered the massive store of oil in the Yggdrasil field, an area of the Norwegian North Sea close to the UK sector.

Karl Johnny Hersvik, the chief executive of Aker BP, said the huge discovery was "amongst the largest commercial discoveries in Norway in a decade", citing "new exploration methods" which had made it possible.

He added: "We look forward to unlocking even more of the potential in this prolific area."

Being so close to the British sector of the North Sea opens the possibility that billions of barrels could still be in the UK's possession, which the UK could exploit to provide energy for the nation and much-needed money for the Treasury.

But in the next five years as many as 180 of the UK's 280 current gas and oil fields are expected to close, sending production plummeting by around 70%. Windfall taxes imposed by the Conservatives and increased by Labour mean UK oil and gas profits are taxed at 78%.

Ashley Kelty, of Panmure Liberum investment bank, told the Telegraph: "In the UK, incessant tax changes have made the UK less stable for investment and the open hostility of governments to longer-term activity has further deterred investment."

" Aker BP's discovery lies just across the border between the UK and Norwegian sectors and only about 100 miles east of Shetland. It suggests a similar find may lie in British waters."

Mike Tholen, of trade body Offshore Energies UK, said: "Norway is actively exploring and continues to hold annual licensing rounds for new exploration activity. Norway is for the most part drilling in similar geological structures to the UK, where oil and gas production in the UK has undoubtedly been severely impacted by policy decisions."

Relating to UK oil and gas exploration, a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson previously said: "Our priority is to deliver a fair, orderly and prosperous transition in the North Sea in line with our climate and legal obligations, which drives our clean energy future of energy security, lower bills, and good, long-term jobs."

Express.co.uk has approached the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for comment.