Industry warns UK faces rising import dependence without fresh North Sea investment

Oliver Dean | 25th March 2026 | Trade Associations

The North Sea could prove to be the solution to Britain's energy security problem (Photo by Robert Perry/Getty Images)

Year on year, the UK becomes more dependent on liquefied natural gas, but North Sea investment could change this, OEUK argues.

Britain risks becoming dangerously reliant on imported liquefied natural gas unless the government moves swiftly to stabilise the fiscal regime for domestic oil and gas producers, the offshore energy industry has warned.

The alert comes in Offshore Energies UK’s Business Outlook Report 2026, published today, which sets out projections showing the UK could depend on imported LNG for more than a quarter of its gas supply by 2030 and nearly half by 2035. This figure is up from around 14% last year.

The report argues that regulatory and fiscal uncertainty, rather than shortage of resources, is driving the decline in domestic production. It calls on the government to replace the temporary Energy Profits Levy with a permanent Oil and Gas Price Mechanism, which OEUK says could unlock up to £50bn in additional investment and massively increase tax receipts over the next decade.

Oil and gas currently supply around 75% of the UK’s total energy needs, and the report projects they will still account for roughly a fifth of demand in 2050. North Sea gas also carries a lower carbon footprint than imported LNG, which reckons with the assumption that cutting domestic output automatically reduces emissions.

Under existing fiscal and regulatory conditions, the UK’s offshore energy sector is forecast to attract roughly £120bn in capital expenditure over the next ten years, including £86bn in …

Subscribe to The Mace

Join the member community shaping British politics and stay ahead of what's really happening in the world of politics and public affairs, with expert analysis, breaking news, and insider insights from Westminster and Brussels. The Mace is the leading news source and resource for the government affairs industry, offering required reading and lobby intelligence for professionals.

To see what you are missing out on by not subscribing to The Mace, click here to download our full membership info-pack. This includes having no paywall on op-ed content or profiles/interviews, allowing professional profiles to be read with maximum impact and visibility by government, special advisers, MPs, peers, civil servants, and policy and political decision-makers.