Politics
‘Absolutely shocking’: oil lobby has enjoyed weekly meetings with Labour since 2024
Starmer’s failing Labour government is under pressure on all fronts. And now it has been revealed that Big Oil are pushing hard to get the North Sea exploited for oil. This is despite little evidence such a move could offset the Iran war energy crisis. Yet the oil lobby has enjoyed weekly meetings since Starmer took power…
US president Donald Trump said on 23 April that Starmer was done for unless he started drilling:
“If he doesn’t, I don’t think he stands a chance” — Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) April 23, 2026
And Reform UK’s Nigel Farage also called for drilling in March 2026. Not that the UK oil lobby struggle to get access to politicians…
On 22 April, investigative journalists from the excellent Democracy for Sale team reported that Big Oil is trying to make Labour open up the North Sea oil fields. Let’s be clear here, as Democracy for Sale said themselves, there is little evidence drilling the North Sea will help fix the oil crisis.
A crisis which was caused by Donald Trump’s attack on Iran anyway…
Nevertheless, the investigation found that:
the main North Sea industry lobby group, Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), has spearheaded a campaign to overturn the ban on new North Sea drilling and to end the windfall tax on energy profits.
Oil lobby enjoys weekly access to government
The level of access the oil lobby has enjoyed since July 2024 – when Starmer took power – has been remarkable. Democracy for Sale confirmed this through freedom of information (FOI) requests:
Lobbyists for OEUK and its members, which include BP, Shell and a host of major oil and gas firms, have met UK and Scottish ministers 96 times since July 2024 – a rate of more than once a week.
The report also said:
OEUK’s head of public affairs is a former Tory special advisor who has repeatedly met with parliamentarians. On at least two occasions, MPs have made parliamentary contributions echoing OEUK talking points a day after being briefed by the lobby group.
And that a senior oil executive had had a call with energy secretary Ed Miliband days after Labour took office:
in which she called for “new exploration licenses” in the North Sea and also raised “concerns on the energy profits levy” introduced in the wake of soaring profits after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The levy taxed powerful (and already wealthy) oil firms profits. In a later meeting with another energy minister:
BP’s Kingham warned that the windfall tax would “kill off” BP’s investment in renewables – even as the company was already scaling back its energy transition plans. In another meeting, a Shell UK executive called for “continuous drilling in the North Sea.
Is Labour wavering under Big Oil’s demands?
So far, Democracy for Sale said Miliband has:
refused to backtrack on Labour’s manifesto pledge.
But chancellor Rachel Reeves:
recently told BBC radio she would be “very happy” to back new North Sea exploration.
The oil lobby has pulled the stops out to change Labour policy:
Ahead of November’s autumn budget, OEUK held a parliamentary reception attended by ministers and MPs. The government simultaneously softened its position on North Sea oil and gas, allowing new production on or near existing fields, so long as it doesn’t require new exploration.
And they’ve been actively pushing propaganda pieces in the legacy media. Democracy for Sale reported:
OEUK’s lobbying effort has been bearing fruit across the British media. “We’re sitting on a goldmine!” So WHY won’t Red Ed drop his Net Zero madness?”, the Daily Mail reported this month, citing OEUK research.
The outlet said that that Mail article was just one of:
788 stories in the British media in the past year to mention the trade group.
And the lobby group has been active in Scotland too, where such industries are politically sensitive:
It secured 44 meetings with MSPs and ministers after the Scottish government introduced a presumption against new offshore fossil fuel licences in 2023.
An OEUK representative told Democracy for Sale:
We are an apolitical organisation regularly engaging with parliamentary parties across the UK. Our sector contributes billions of pounds to the UK economy, supports thousands of good jobs and safeguards energy security while driving down carbon emissions. We will continue to represent it with pride.
Plenty of criticism too…
MPs and pressure groups critical of the oil lobby spoke out too. Green MP Sian Berry said:
the scale and depth of access OEUK has been given to government ministers is absolutely shocking.
Adding that it would be reckless for the Labour government to be swayed by the lobby. Tessa Khan, who is executive director of climate action organisation Uplift, told the reporters:
New drilling won’t make any difference to the price we pay for gas. It is a distraction from the genuine solutions, like more renewables, and upgrading homes with solar power and heat pumps, which are the only way to insulate ourselves from energy shocks.
Drilling the North Sea clearly isn’t going to solve the energy crisis. And the oil lobby is concerned with is bottom line and not much else. Neither of these realities is reflect in amount of direct access they’ve had to government. The problem is that this government, wracked by internal and external crises, might not have the strength to resist these powerful vested interests.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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