Oceana threatens legal action against the British government

After the British government issued new oil and gas licences on 3 May this year – a third of them for marine protected areas – marine conservation organisation Oceana decided to write a letter to the government threatening legal action if the new licences were not revoked.

“We believe the licenses are unlawful due to inadequate ‘appropriate assessments’ – assessments of impacts on protected areas required under the Habitats Regulations,” commented an Oceana spokesperson.

Oceana has sent a pre-litigation protocol letter to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) threatening a judicial review of the decision made in May 2024 to approve new oil and gas licences in marine protected areas. They are calling on the Secretary of State to withdraw the new licences and to conduct new environmental impact assessments of the proposed licences.

In October 2022, the UK government opened the 33rd UK Offshore Licensing Round, a process in which oil companies are given exclusive rights to explore “blocks” of the sea for oil and gas. The NSTA received applications for 258 blocks and concluded that 96 blocks required a suitability assessment. In July 2023, OPRED, on behalf of DESNZ, published a draft suitability assessment of these blocks and opened a consultation. Oceana, supported by many other organisations, submitted a response to the consultation setting out extensive concerns. Statutory conservation organisations were also invited to provide feedback on the assessments.

In October 2023, January 2024 and May 2024, the NSTA awarded 27, 24 and 31 new licenses respectively – a total of 82 licenses were awarded in the 33rd round. The final assessments were published with the third tranche on 3 May 2024. The documents suggest that the 33rd round of seaward licensing will not have an adverse impact on marine protected areas, despite many overlaps.

Oceana has sent a pre-trial protocol letter arguing that the decision to grant the licenses was illegal and should be reversed. The government has been given 14 days to respond.

“The legal challenge represents a strategic opportunity that goes well beyond the direct challenge to the new licenses in question. It is strategically important to the broader fight to end all new licenses and to environmental protection more broadly,” Oceana said in a statement.