UK risks relying on 'very unstable' nations for energy, Senior Tory warns - following court ruling which will make it much harder to exploit domestic oil and gas supplies

Britain risks relying on 'very unstable' nations for energy following a court ruling that will make it much harder to exploit domestic oil and gas supplies, a senior Conservative warned yesterday.

David TC Davies, the Welsh Secretary, hit out at the Supreme Court judgment on a planning application to drill for oil at Horse Hill in Surrey.

The decision, which was made by a majority of three judges to two, means any new oil, gas and coal projects face far tougher environmental impact assessments than made previously.

The court ruled that any assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by an oil or gas project need to take into account the fuel being burnt by the end users such as motorists using petrol.

Asked on Radio 4's Today Programme what the impact of the decision would be, Mr Davies said: 'We need to have access to oil and gas in the North Sea and elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

'If we can't access that, then we're going to become more dependent on other nations for our oil and gas, many of which are very unstable.

'We will lose at least 100,000 jobs that are in the industry, and we will see energy bills go up.'

Mr Davies did not specify which countries he views as 'unstable'.

But the UK imported around 4 per cent of its oil, 9 per cent of its gas and 22 per cent of its coal from Russia in 2021, before Russian energy imports to the UK were banned.

Mr Davies also rejected claims by former Conservative MP Chris Skidmore and who claimed that the PM, Rishi Sunak is now 'siding with climate deniers'.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner told Today that her party would not revoke oil and gas 'licences that have already been approved' - but she restated the policy position that it 'will not be issuing new licences'.

Mel Evans, Greenpeace UK climate team leader, said they expected that the ruling would results in new developments, such as the Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland and the Whitehaven coal mine in Cumbria, losing legal challenges they face in the courts.

'Following the Supreme Court judgement, Greenpeace would expect authorities to concede those cases', Mr Evans said.

Robin Allan, chairman of Brindex, the Association of British Independent Exploration Companies, that 'the decision from the Supreme Court risks a material knock-on impact for the UK's oil and gas industry.

'However, it should not be misinterpreted: the decision does not state that further UK oil and gas production is incompatible with the UK's net zero targets.'

'Regardless, this decision is yet another act which increases the levels of hostility faced by the UK oil and gas sector. Oil and gas are essential in the transition to net zero, and imports offer none of the economic, environmental or geopolitical benefits offered by domestic production.'