Over the years the estimates of untapped reserves in the North Sea have increased, and just recently the British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey, announced to a parliamentary oil and natural gas group that oil and gas will be able to meet 70% of the country's energy demands up until 2040.
Davey said that, "with 20 billion barrels or more still to be drawn from the U.K.'s North Sea fields, having an indigenous source helps prevent over-reliance on imports from more volatile parts of the world."
To take advantage of the ever increasing reserves, Britain will approve 28 new oil and natural gas offshore projects.
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"In 2012, 29 projects were approved with capital expenditure of over $17.3 billion. In 2013, we are already expecting around 28 new fields to get approval," he said.
Increasing domestic production of oil and natural gas will greatly improve the strength of the British economy and its position in geopolitics, especially as increasing demand from China as its economy starts to rapidly grow again in 2013 will leave the oil markets tight.
Whilst excited by the prospects of increased oil and gas production, Davey has also confirmed the government's commitment to generating 30% of the country's electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More