Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill debated in the Lords

The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill will require the oil and gas regulator to hold annual licensing rounds for offshore petroleum production.

Debate on the draft law

During second reading, members discussed the main topics in the bill and drew attention to specific areas of concern where they think amendments (changes) are needed.

Members speaking

Contributing members included:

• Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrats), chair of clean water charity, Water Unite
• Lord Moynihan (Conservative), former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Energy
• Baroness Young of Old Scone (Labour), environmentalist with the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
• Baroness Willis of Summertown (Crossbench), professor of biodiversity, Oxford University.

Lord Callanan (Conservative), Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, opened the debate and responded on behalf of the government.

Get involved

Watch and read the debate

Catch up on Parliament TV or read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Explore further information

Find out more about the bill in the House of Lords Library briefing.

Next steps

Committee stage, the first chance for line by line examination of the bill, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday 23 April.

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