10 h. ago North Sea oil and gas will disappear 'within years, not decades' without Labour tax reforms

The industry body for the North Sea has called for the Chancellor to reform a controversial tax policy in her autumn Budget.

Events

24 h. ago Tories pledge to extract all remaining North Sea oil and gas reserves

Kemi Badenoch says UK move away from fossil fuel extraction is an ‘act of economic disarmament’

Politics

28 h. ago Tories promise to extract "all" remaining oil and gas from North Sea

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch will make a speech in Aberdeen on Tuesday in an attempt to use energy policy as a political dividing line.

Politics

29 h. ago Kemi Badenoch vows Tories will back draining every drop of oil and gas from North Sea

Tory leader will use speech in Aberdeen to “call time” on the “impossible ideology of net zero”

Politics

30 h. ago Badenoch in pledge to ‘get all our oil and gas out of the North Sea’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said a Conservative administration would maximise extraction.

Politics

39 h. ago Kemi Badenoch calls for North Sea oil boom: Tory leader vows to end 'impossible' Net Zero drive and focus on maximum extraction of Britain's fossil fuels

The Conservative Party will make 'maximising extraction' the goal, in a move away from Net Zero pledges to end new fossil fuel extraction.

Politics

41 h. ago Tories would maximise North Sea oil and gas extraction, Badenoch to say

Conservative leader says it is ‘absurd’ to shift away from fossil fuels and leave ‘vital resources untapped’The Conservative party will aim to “maximise extraction” of oil and gas in the North Sea if it wins power, Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce.Badenoch will use a speech in Aberdeen in the coming days to set out her plans to extract as much oil and gas as possible instead of shifting away from fossil fuels, the Sunday Telegraph reported. Continue reading...

Politics

43 h. ago Badenoch pledges to maximise North Sea oil and gas extraction

Kemi Badenoch said Britain ‘cannot afford not to be doing everything to get hydrocarbons out the ground’ to boost growth

Politics

49 h. ago Oscar Piastri earns F1 Dutch GP pole by finest margin ahead of Lando Norris

Australian gives himself chance to extend title advantageIsack Hadjar takes career-best fourth for Racing BullsOscar Piastri claimed pole for the Dutch Grand Prix with a mighty lap for McLaren at Zandvoort to beat his teammate Lando Norris into second place. The pair were firmly on top, solidly beating the Red Bull of Max Verstappen into third place. Isack Hadjar took a superb career-best fourth for Racing Bulls, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Ferrari.With Piastri and Norris locked in a title fight, the pace advantage for McLaren was once more demonstrated in the dunes on the edge of the North Sea. The pair have been on top all weekend, with Norris quickest in all three practice sessions, but when it mattered Piastri had the edge, pipping his teammate by one hundredth of a second. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Labour urged to agree to 'bespoke' oil and gas permits after independent review findings

Keir Starmer’s government has been urged to agree a compromise to its promised ban on new oil and gas licences.

Politics

6 d. ago Fossil fuel extractors bend the world to their will – help fund the journalism that exposes them

Across the globe, oil, gas and coal companies use an ever-widening set of tactics to crush competition and opposition. With the world’s most powerful man helping them at every turn, it’s critical we reveal their full impactToday the Guardian launches its annual environment support campaign. To back our vital climate journalism, please click hereWhy does capital love fossil fuels? It’s not hard to explain. They exist in a small number of discrete locations, where the right to exploit them can be owned and monopolised. Most can be extracted commercially only at scale, excluding small competitors. They can be stored and traded all over the world, allowing prices to be optimised across time and space. Renewable energy, by contrast, can be generated almost anywhere, by almost anyone with a small amount of money to invest.Renewables might now be cheaper than fossil fuel in the vast majority of cases, but this makes them less attractive to capital, not more. Fossil fuels are uncompetitive ...

Politics

6 d. ago With a disaster this devastating, there was no need for hyperbole, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS

The first hour of this three-part documentary recounted the details almost in real time, from the first warnings of gas leaks on the North Sea oil rig, to the explosions that destroyed it, in July 1988.

Events

6 d. ago Disaster at Sea: The Piper Alpha Story review – this oil rig horror is up there with Chornobyl

Shocking and superb, this documentary is packed with terrifying details of the notorious 1988 catastrophe, from the fire that could be seen from 120 miles away to the squashed tomatoesOn the evening of 6 July 1988, the Piper Alpha oil production platform in the North Sea suffered a catastrophic gas explosion, followed by a conflagration that destroyed the structure; 167 people were killed, and almost all the physical evidence of what had occurred became charred debris, lost to the waves. After the disaster, a public inquiry struggled to form a complete picture of the event, for reasons that also make it a hard subject for documentary-makers.Disaster at Sea: The Piper Alpha Story copes with the challenge superbly, leaning heavily on survivor testimony – 61 men escaped from the rig – and combining it with a simple 2D diagram of the platform’s layout to give us the fullest picture possible. It doesn’t have the special-effects budget that would be required to simulate the ferocity of th...

Events

7 d. ago Bank Holiday beachgoers are confronted with loud tannoys telling them NOT to go in polluted water at popular UK beach

Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside would usually be packed with families enjoying the weather while cooling off in the North Sea.

Politics

9 d. ago Air pollution from oil and gas causes 90,000 premature US deaths each year, says new study

Study analyzed health impacts of fossil fuels from exploration to end use, and found communities of color bear brunt of harmAir pollution from oil and gas causes more than 90,000 premature deaths and sickens hundreds of thousands of people across the US each year, a new study shows, with disproportionately high impacts on communities of color.More than 10,000 annual pre-term births are attributable to fine particulate matter from oil and gas, the authors found, also linking 216,000 annual childhood-onset asthma cases to the sector’s nitrogen dioxide emissions and 1,610 annual lifetime cancer cases to its hazardous air pollutants. Continue reading...

Society

1 week ago Weather tracker: monsoon rains cause deadly floods in Pakistan and India

More than 300 dead after downpours in mountainous regions and several killed in Indian city of MumbaiHeavy monsoon rains have continued to pummel the Indian subcontinent over the past week, bringing devastating flooding and landslides and leaving hundreds of people dead in what has already been one of the deadliest monsoon seasons in recent years.Moist air surging inland from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea was driven into Pakistan and north-west India late last week by strong southwesterly monsoon winds. Combined with developing areas of low pressure, this triggered a succession of torrential downpours. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Visitors warned to avoid popular Welsh beach after 'serious public health concern'

Beachgoers at a popular beach in north Wales have been advised to avoid swimming in the sea ahead of the busy summer bank holiday weekend.

Events

1 week ago Hundreds of historic tall ships are heading for Amsterdam for a maritime festival

A flotilla of hundreds of historic ships is en route to Amsterdam for a five-day festival celebrating the Dutch capital’s maritime history

Culture

1 week ago North Koreans drinking 'deep sea water' as state media advertises bizarre new products

The advertisement published in the English-speaking Pyongyang Times highlights three different choices of bottled H2O that are all apparently 'winning great favour with customers'

Politics

2 w. ago Mayenda sparks stunning Sunderland start to increase Potter’s West Ham pain

Advertising hoardings dotted around Sunderland are adorned with inviting images of long, sandy beaches and invite visitors to embark on adventures in “our city by the sea”. It is all part of an £80m project designed to reinvent and regenerate the post-industrial riverside area around the Stadium of Light, but West Ham had evidently not bargained for this rejuvenation to extend to the football team.As the second half unfolded an exhilarating afternoon that exceeded the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic Sunderland fans became not so much so an adventure as an ordeal by the North Sea for West Ham. Right from the start a Sunderland starting XI featuring seven debut-making summer signings and only three survivors of May’s playoff final triumph, looked quick, agile and extremely nimble footed. Continue reading...

Politics