One of Labour’s most prominent donors has called on Ed Miliband to impose greater curbs on North Sea oil and gas exports, warning that the escalating conflict with Iran could lead to dangerous fuel shortages in Britain.
Dale Vince, the green energy entrepreneur behind Ecotricity, said the energy minister must be prepared to act decisively and instruct operators in the basin to keep hydrocarbons at home if supplies continue to run low. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he argued it would be “crazy” to continue shipping British barrels abroad while households and businesses brace for a squeeze.
“We can ban exports from the North Sea. China has done it,” Mr Vince said, pointing to Beijing’s willingness to prioritize domestic consumption in times of tension. “If we face a fuel shortage, stop exports.”
Britain currently pumps around 53 million tonnes of crude oil a year, most of it going to refineries in the Netherlands, Poland and elsewhere. In a quirk of the global trading system, the country then imports about 51 million tons to supply its own gas stations and power plants, leaving it completely exposed to price spikes in global markets.
This disclosure has become painfully clear since the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf last month. About a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies remain bottled due to Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, causing Brent crude to rise to about $109 a barrel from $77 at the start of the month. Wholesale gas sales have risen by about three-quarters, driving up prices at the pumps and prompting suppliers to warn that household energy bills will rise sharply in the coming months.
The crisis has reignited a fierce debate over Britain’s energy security, with industry voices urging Mr Miliband to speed up drilling and sign off on the controversial Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields. Reports on Friday suggested the energy minister could approve Jackdaw and block Rosebank, a decision likely to inflame both sides of the dispute.
Mr Vince remains opposed to any further expansion but believes the Government should extract maximum value from the aging basin’s remaining reserves. He suggested offering existing operators contracts for difference, a mechanism more commonly associated with renewable energy, to prevent what he called a “cliff event” in which operators walk away because prices collapse.
The intervention is sure to provoke strong opposition from private producers who rely on international buyers for the lion’s share of their revenue. But Mr Vince said the current moment exposed the folly of exposing UK domestic production to volatile global benchmarks.
“We have opened up to global markets, but the concept of globalization costs us a lot of money when there is an energy crisis,” he said. He contrasted the British approach with that of the United States, which restricts certain fuel exports and has long benefited from cheaper domestic gas. “We are again in a situation where everything we produce in the North Sea costs us the world price.”
Mr Vince also used the moment to argue that the conflict should lead to a wider rethink about Britain’s dependence on Washington. The US has become the single largest supplier of crude oil to the UK, accounting for around 30 percent of imports. “It worries me to be dependent on the United States for everything,” he said, describing the current American administration as “a very unreliable regime” and calling for greater strategic independence from Washington.
Ultimately, he argued, the long-term answer lies in weaning the country off hydrocarbons entirely. “The answer is to move away from fossil fuels and break the link between the global price of fossil fuels and those we produce at home.”
A government spokesman defended the current approach, stressing that the UK benefits from “a strong and diverse fuel supply mix” that includes both imports and domestic production. Officials added that production of gasoline from crude oil at Britain’s refinery exceeded demand in 2025, leaving a surplus for export.
