One of the Labour Party’s most prominent financial backers has called on Ed Miliband to slam the brakes on North Sea oil and gas exports, warning that the escalating conflict with Iran could leave Britain dangerously short of fuel.
Dale Vince, the green energy entrepreneur behind Ecotricity, said the Energy Secretary must be prepared to act decisively, instructing operators in the basin to keep hydrocarbons at home should supplies tighten further. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he argued it would be “bonkers” to continue shipping British barrels overseas while households and businesses brace for a squeeze.
“We can ban exports from the North Sea. China have done it,” Mr Vince said, pointing to Beijing’s willingness to prioritise domestic consumption during periods of strain. “If we are facing the prospect of a fuel shortage, then stop exporting it.”
Britain currently pumps around 53 million tonnes of crude annually, the bulk of which heads to refineries in the Netherlands, Poland and beyond. In a quirk of the global trading system, the country then imports roughly 51 million tonnes to feed its own forecourts and power stations, leaving it fully exposed to price spikes on world markets.
That exposure has become painfully evident since hostilities in the Gulf erupted last month. Roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies remain bottled up behind Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, sending Brent crude soaring to about $109 a barrel from $77 at the start of the month. Wholesale gas has jumped by around three-quarters, pushing up pump prices and prompting warnings from suppliers that household energy bills will climb sharply in the months ahead.
The crisis has reignited a fierce debate over Britain’s energy security, with industry voices pressing Mr Miliband to accelerate drilling and to rubber-stamp the contested Rosebank and Jackdaw fields. Reports on Friday suggested the Energy Secretary may approve Jackdaw while blocking Rosebank, a decision likely to inflame both sides of the argument.
Mr Vince remains opposed to any fresh expansion but believes the Government should extract maximum value from the ageing basin’s remaining reserves. He proposed offering existing operators contracts for difference, a mechanism more commonly associated with renewables, to prevent what he described as “a cliff-edge event where operators walk away because prices collapse”.
The intervention is certain to provoke fierce resistance from private producers, who rely on international buyers for the lion’s share of their revenue. Yet Mr Vince said the present moment exposes the folly of exposing Britain’s domestic output to volatile global benchmarks.
“We’ve opened ourselves up to global markets, but the concept of globalisation is costing us an arm and a leg when there’s an energy crisis,” he said. He contrasted the British approach with that of the United States, which restricts certain fuel exports and has long enjoyed the benefit of cheaper domestic gas. “We’re back to a situation where whatever we make in the North Sea costs us the global price.”
Mr Vince also used the moment to argue that the conflict should prompt a wider rethink of Britain’s dependence on Washington. The US has become the largest single supplier of crude to the UK, accounting for roughly 30 per cent of imports. “It alarms me to be reliant on the US for anything,” he said, describing the current American administration as “a very undependable regime” and calling for greater strategic independence from Washington.
Ultimately, he argued, the long-term answer lies in weaning the country off hydrocarbons altogether. “The answer is to get off fossil fuels and to break the link between the global price of fossil fuels and those that we make in our country.”
A Government spokesman defended the current approach, insisting Britain benefits from “a strong and diverse mix of fuel supply” spanning both imports and domestic production. Officials added that UK refinery output of petrol from crude exceeded demand in 2025, leaving a surplus available for export.
