Analysis: UK newspapers have already printed 63 editorials in 2026 backing North Sea drilling

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">UK newspapers have already published 63 editorials this year calling for more oil and gas extraction in the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">North Sea</a>, according to Carbon Brief analysis.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The national outlets, including the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and the Times, argue that the nation “<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39011466/migrant-small-boats-election-reform-tories-labour-sun-says/">needs</a>” more North Sea drilling to <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20260320/page/12">provide</a> “home-sourced oil and gas” <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38751860/starmer-fuel-tax-cuts-drilling-energy-crisis/">amid</a> a “full-blown energy crisis”.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">These newspapers seek to blame energy secretary Ed Miliband’s “<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38663110/ed-miliband-net-zero-crusade-brits-foot-bill/">net-zero crusade</a>” for curbing UK fossil-fuel production – despite supplies <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">dwindling</a> for decades before he took the role.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The push for North Sea drilling in newspaper editorials – considered a publication’s formal “voice” – is part of a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-newspaper-editorial-opposition-to-climate-action-overtakes-support-for-first-time/">wider rejection</a> of net-zero policies by the UK’s right-leaning press.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Figures ranging from ex-Labour prime minister <a href="https://institute.global/insights/politics-and-governance/the-labour-party-is-playing-with-fire-over-its-future-and-the-future-of-the-country">Tony Blair</a> to hard-right Reform UK leader <a href="https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25947756.pmqs-nigel-farage-demands-uk-opens-north-sea-drilling/">Nigel Farage</a> have repeated similar arguments that more drilling will “boost” the UK economy.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Even US president Donald Trump has weighed in, <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declares-starmer-resign-blames-012109377.html">attributing</a>, in part, the resignation of Keir Starmer as UK prime minister to him “fail[ing] badly” on North Sea oil.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite these claims, <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">experts say</a> trying to extract the last barrels of domestic oil and gas would have no impact on people’s energy bills and very little effect on energy security.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">More drilling</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">North Sea oil and gas production is a highly <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">politically charged</a> issue in the UK, especially under the current Labour government.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When Labour won the general election in 2024, the new government <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-labour-governments-in-tray-for-climate-change-energy-and-nature/">committed</a> to a &#8220;phased and responsible&#8221; transition away from fossil-fuel extraction in the North Sea.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As part of this pledge, it ruled out issuing new exploration licences for oil and gas. Since then, the government has allowed some “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r9gyjkky0o">tiebacks</a>”, where new drilling is undertaken close to existing sites.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/around-90-of-uk-north-sea-oil-and-gas-already-drained-dry-analysis">Roughly 90%</a> of the fossil fuels that are likely to be extracted in the North Sea have already been burned. North Sea oil and gas extraction was, therefore, already on a clear <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">downward trajectory</a> long before Labour came to power, having dropped 75% between 2000 and 2024.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nevertheless, many newspapers have relentlessly called for more oil and gas production, framing the Labour policy as “<a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20260528/page/12">self-destructive</a>” and compromised by “<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38574389/ed-miliband-iran-conflict-north-sea-sun-says/">green ideology</a>”.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This has ramped up significantly in 2026. Just six months into the year, newspapers have already published 63 pro-North Sea editorials, according to analysis by Carbon Brief. This is more than double the number published in 2025, as shown in the figure below.</p>

<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img alt="Chart showing that there have already been 63 newspaper editorials in 2026 calling for more North Sea drilling" class="wp-image-63224" height="1178" src="https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/north-sea-chart.png" style="width: 493px; height: auto;" width="784" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cumulative number of UK newspaper editorials supporting more fossil-fuel extraction in the North Sea in 2025 (blue) and January-June 2026 (red). Source: Carbon Brief analysis.</figcaption></figure>
</div>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Right-leaning newspapers have led this campaign, with the Sun alone publishing 25 editorials, while the Daily Telegraph and the Times have published 10 each.&nbsp;</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">‘Full-blown energy crisis’</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The biggest surge in pro-North Sea drilling editorials came in March, as the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-what-does-the-iran-war-mean-for-the-energy-transition-and-climate-action/">Iran war</a> escalated and a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/iran-war-analysis-how-60-nations-have-responded-to-the-global-energy-crisis/">global energy crisis</a> began to take shape. Newspapers published 24 such editorials that month, despite the crisis largely arising from the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20260320/page/12">Daily Express</a> said the UK needed more “home-sourced oil and gas” and the <a href="https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/comment/448828/war-exposes-cracks-in-our-energy-policy">Daily Mail</a> highlighted the “perverse limit on domestic fossil-fuel production”.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As the weeks progressed, the <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38751860/starmer-fuel-tax-cuts-drilling-energy-crisis/">Sun</a> lamented price rises and potential fuel shortages, proposing North Sea drilling as a solution to the “full-blown energy crisis”.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yet, UK oil and gas is sold by private companies on the open market at international rates. This means UK consumers have no particular right to the fuels or control over the prices they are bought for.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38400391/france-defend-raf-base-cyprus-iran-sun-says/">Sun</a> claimed&nbsp;– without evidence&nbsp;– that if the North Sea had been prioritised, the UK “might just have the cheapest electricity in the world”. It also <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/38461891/iran-conflict-energy-sun-says-labour/">said</a> net-zero “forces us to spend billions” on imports.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In fact, the UK’s high energy prices are <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-why-does-gas-set-the-price-of-electricity-and-is-there-an-alternative/">primarily the result</a> of its reliance on gas to generate electricity.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The nation is reliant on oil and gas imports, in part, because the North Sea is a “mature basin” that saw its output <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-nine-false-or-misleading-myths-about-north-sea-oil-and-gas/">collapse</a> long before the UK even had a net-zero target.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Renewables and low-carbon technologies&nbsp;– often dismissed by the same newspapers&nbsp;– are <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-clean-energy-will-cut-uk-gas-imports-by-more-than-north-sea-drilling/">expected</a> to have a far greater impact on cutting imports than new drilling ever could.</p>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Miliband’s ‘crusade’</h2>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Much of the criticism by these newspapers of Labour’s North Sea stance is tied to their highly personal criticism of Miliband. Of the 63 editorials arguing for more drilling, nearly three-quarters also attacked him as a “<a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39011466/migrant-small-boats-election-reform-tories-labour-sun-says/">net-zero zealot</a>” on a “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/02/11/it-is-not-britain-leading-the-way-on-energy-but-the-us/">green crusade</a>”.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/comment/the-times-view/article/ed-miliband-kill-off-fossil-fuel-exploration-r8ps9vcnf">Times</a> said the energy and net-zero secretary was pursuing a “masochistic policy” by not expanding North Sea drilling and that he had “cloaked his zealotry in spurious rationality”.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This all fits with a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-attacks-on-ed-miliband-in-uk-newspaper-editorials-have-already-exceeded-2024-levels/">broader trend</a> that has seen right-leaning newspapers launch frequent, personal attacks on Miliband.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the roughly two years since Labour won the election, giving the government a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/interactive-labour-governments-in-tray-for-climate-change-energy-and-nature/">clear mandate</a> for its net-zero policies, there have been around 230 editorials criticising Miliband.&nbsp;</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">(These have <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/daily-brief/hormuz-toll-threat-europe-swelters-miliband-for-chancellor/">redoubled</a> in recent days, amid rumours that he may be made chancellor under Andy Burnham, if the new Makerfield MP becomes the next prime minister, as is widely expected.)</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Such attacks have increasingly spilled over into politics. Conservative shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/03/23/ed-miliband-accused-net-zero-fanaticism-north-sea-oil/">accused</a> Miliband of “fanaticism” and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has even <a href="https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15939075/Kemi-Badenoch-says-Chancellor-Ed-Miliband-disaster-Britain.html">likened him</a> to a “Nigerian military dictator”.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The newspapers have also interpreted any support for North Sea drilling as a rebuke of Miliband. Both the <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39226817/tony-blair-attacks-labour-ministers-should-listen-sun-says/">Sun</a> and the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/05/26/even-blair-admits-labour-isnt-working/">Daily Telegraph</a> welcomed an <a href="https://institute.global/insights/politics-and-governance/the-labour-party-is-playing-with-fire-over-its-future-and-the-future-of-the-country">essay</a> by Blair, in which he argued that “we must…use what is left of our North Sea oil and gas resources”.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39226817/tony-blair-attacks-labour-ministers-should-listen-sun-says/">Sun</a> heralded Blair as Labour’s “most successful election winner” and said he “nailed the chief mistakes” of the current government, including:</p>

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Allowing Ed Miliband free rein on net-zero – especially the banning of North Sea drilling.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Several of the newspapers have also thrown their support behind the Conservative party, as it <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-why-conservative-leader-kemi-badenoch-is-wrong-about-uks-net-zero-goal/">frames itself</a> as an anti-net-zero, pro-fossil fuel alternative to Labour.</p>

<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20260330/page/18">Daily Mail</a> described Badenoch’s proposal to drill more in the North Sea as a “concrete plan”, while the <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39476340/burnham-by-election-wont-heal-division-sun-says/">Sun</a> – in an echo of <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/drill-baby-drill-the-surprising-history-of-donald-trumps-fossil-fuel-slogan/">Trump’s slogan</a> – has simply urged her to “drill, Kemi, drill”.</p>

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<p>The post <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-newspapers-have-already-printed-63-editorials-in-2026-backing-north-sea-drilling/">Analysis: UK newspapers have already printed 63 editorials in 2026 backing North Sea drilling </a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org">Carbon Brief</a>.</p>