Kemi Badenoch says Britain MUST get more oil and gas out of the North Sea amid fears 80% of fossil fuels will need to be imported by 2030
Kemi Badenoch insisted North Sea oil and gas can be the 'cornerstone of Britain's future' today.
The Tory leader vowed to bring 'common sense' to the Net Zero drive as she addressed an industry conference in Aberdeen.
Opening a clear dividing line with Labour, Mrs Badenoch made clear as much oil and gas should be extracted from the UK Continental Shelf as possible.
The intervention came amid concerns that the UK will have to import 80 per cent of its fossil fuels by 2030 without more investment. The level currently is around 60 per cent.
'Under the Conservatives, British energy will power British prosperity,' she said.
'Labour sees the North Sea as a relic of the past; we see it as a cornerstone of Britain's future.
'By restoring common sense to energy policy, we will unlock billions in revenue, secure our supply, and rebuild confidence in the UK economy.'
The Tories have pledged to unshackle the industry after Labour banned new oil and gas licences.
Mrs Badenoch has also said her party would reverse a block on providing 'financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas'.
The North Sea Transition Authority would be renamed the North Sea Authority, and given the overarching mandate to 'maximise the extraction of our oil and gas'.
Kemi Badenoch insisted North Sea oil and gas can be the 'cornerstone of Britain's future' today
Opening a clear dividing line with Labour, Mrs Badenoch made clear as much oil and gas should be extracted from the UK Continental Shelf as possible (pictured at Aberdeen Harbour today)
Mrs Badenoch has also said her party would reverse a block on providing 'financial or promotional support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas'
Mrs Badenoch took aim at Nigel Farage's Reform for supporting 'part-nationalisation' of the sector, claiming that would mean 'the government and politicians running our oil and gas fields, taking us back to the bad old days of the 1970s when the government controlled British industries, running them into the ground'.
She accused Energy Secretary Ed Miliband of 'strangling the North Sea in his dogmatic and ideological pursuit of net zero' by 2050.
Mrs Badenoch said that in contrast the Tories are 'focused on securing jobs, investment, and energy independence'.
'The foundation of economic growth is cheap, abundant energy — and that must be our priority,' she said.
'That's why it is time to overturn the absurd, anti-prosperity, anti-business, anti-oil and gas, anti-British ban on supporting UK companies who export their world-leading technologies overseas.'
'It was, and remains, a mad decision. And I say that it needs to go. And when I am prime minister, it will go,' she said.
David Whitehouse, chief executive of the industry body Offshore Energies UK, said there was 'an important message that the UK should produce its own oil and gas'.
He said that estimates suggest the UK will need between 10 billion and 15 billion barrels of oil and gas between now and 2050 – the target date for the country to reach net zero.
Mrs Badenoch said the Tories are 'focused on securing jobs, investment, and energy independence'
Ms Badenoch accused Energy Secretary Ed Miliband of 'strangling the North Sea in his dogmatic and ideological pursuit of net zero' by 2050
But Mr Whitehouse added the UK was currently on course to produce less than four billion barrels from the North Sea.
He said: 'I believe in excess of six billion barrels is a realistic target for the country. We just need the right policies to support that.
'And I think it is in our national interest that we put the policies in place that it becomes realistic, that we get back to delivering six to seven billion barrels of oil and gas.'
Mr Whitehouse continued: 'Even though we have not seen the level of exploration that the basin needs, we are still seeing some fantastic discoveries in terms of gas discoveries.
'I think there is a real opportunity for the UK to produce much more of its own gas demand in the coming years if we had the right environment.'
Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) has warned that Britain will need to import 80 per cent of its oil and gas needs by 2030 without extra investment.
Mr Miliband said it was clear that the Tories had 'learnt nothing from their worst defeat in 200 years at the general election'.
'The Conservatives and Reform UK peddle the same failed energy policy that hurt the pockets of working people, they deny the reality of the energy transition and they would deny Britain the jobs of the future, including for workers in the North Sea in carbon capture, hydrogen and offshore wind,' he said.
