Offshore Oil

Issue 3E

Who decides whether and how Wales should exploit its oil and gas resources?

Four decades ago, Westminster began forcibly closing Welsh mines - for economic rather than environmental reasons. Today, Westminster might begin forcibly opening Welsh oil wells...again, more for political and economic reasons than for sustainability concerns. While the Welsh government has a strong ecological track record and ethos, the British government is facing geopolitical questions around oil and gas supply, as well as a cost of living crisis. How decisions should be made around economic, social, and environmental tradeoffs is increasingly debated.

Wales has oil and gas resources, most of which are offshore in its territorial seas. The reserves aren’t huge, but have potential - potential which is increasingly under scrutiny as pressure around global energy security rises. However, the Welsh Government has made its opposition to continued licensing or enhanced investment in oil and gas production clear.

While the Welsh Government has pledged an ‘anti-oil’ stance, the British Government has made clear its interest in local gas production as part of its broad national security strategy. Though environmental policy is devolved to Wales, including some control over oil and gas resources, petroleum in the UK formally belongs to the monarch, and offshore resources are managed by the Crown Estate. This means that decisions around Wales’ reserves are rather messy, such that the Welsh Assembly and Westminster have found themselves increasingly at odds over policy.