Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview:Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), formerly Oil & Gas UK has active engagement with climate policy, with both positive and negative positions in 2023-25. OEUK appears to have positive top-line communications on climate change policy in the UK. The association also holds positive positions on emissions trading and renewable energy policies however with limited communication. OEUK supported the UK’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050, however, it does not appear to fully support a transition of the energy mix that is aligned with this goal as it continues to support an increase in oil and gas exploration and investment.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: OEUK’s top-line messaging on climate policy is broadly positive. In its 2024 Emissions Reduction Report, published in September 2024, OEUK’s CEO, David Whitehouse supported the UK target of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Furthermore, OEUK supported the need for government regulation to respond to climate change in its 2023 Emissions Report published in October 2023.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: OEUK hold limited but positive positions on emissions trading and renewable energy policy. In oral evidence to the House of Lords in May 2024 OEUK supported including methane in the UK ETS and aligning the UK and EU ETS as well as supporting a carbon border adjustment mechanism. The association also supported emissions trading in its Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Insight Report, published in October 2024. Furthermore, OEUK supported renewable energy contracts for difference and reforms to drive renewable energy investment in an April 2023 press release.
Positioning on Energy Transition: OEUK has consistently advocated for continued exploration and development of unexploited oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. For example, in oral evidence to the Great British Energy Bill committee in October 2024, OEUK appeared to advocate for increased production of oil and gas. Additionally, in oral evidence to the House of Lords in May 2024, the association appeared to again advocate for the continued role of oil and fossil gas. OEUK’s, CEO, David Whitehouse, also appeared to advocate for new production and investments that risk locking in unabated fossil fuels in a Press Release in March 2024. This advocacy position appears to be consistently promoted across the entity's communications. In a Press Release in May 2023, the CEO also appeared to oppose governmental intervention in the energy mix to phase out unabated fossil fuels by opposing Labour’s proposal to limit fossil fuel exploration in the North Sea.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2025.