Petition

Reverse the ban on new North Sea Oil & Gas Licences.

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

The Government must lift its ban on new oil & gas licences.

The ban means the UK will be leaving domestic oil & gas reserves in the ground while increasing our reliance on imports.

The ban will cost of thousands of jobs, billions of pounds in investment and tax and impact our energy security.
Oil & gas is 70% of the UK’s energy mix, of which c.50% comes from the North Sea.
All the gas we produce comes to the UK. The oil comes to the UK or Europe.

The NSTA estimate 14 billion barrels remain in the UK North Sea.

Ending the ban would allow exploration, extraction and investment in the basin; while protecting jobs and increasing investment, tax take and energy security.

The UK will need oil & gas for decades. For jobs, economy and security we should use as much of our own as possible.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Make the most of our own natural resources. Allow companies to drill gas and oil
Make the most of our own natural resources. Allow companies to drill gas and oil

Timeline

17 Mar 2026 Petition opened for signatures
14 Apr 2026 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 14 Apr 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 27 Jul 2026.