Iran War Drives Pressure on Miliband for North Sea Drilling

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband faces mounting pressure to approve new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea as the war in Iran drives up global energy prices, creating divisions within the Labour government and prompting calls from opposition parties and unions for immediate action to ease household costs.

The conflict, which includes Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, has led to sharp increases in UK fuel prices. Diesel now averages 185.2 pence per litre, up 30 percent since the war began, and could exceed 200 pence within weeks, according to industry experts. Petrol has risen 16 percent to 154.5 pence per litre. The International Monetary Fund has warned that Britain, reliant on gas-fired power, is among the hardest hit by the disruption, which affects a fifth of the world's oil supply and acts as a sudden tax on household incomes.

At the center of the debate are two major projects: the Rosebank oil and gas field northwest of Shetland, estimated to hold up to 300 million barrels, and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen, which could supply 6.5 percent of the UK's continental shelf gas production at peak, enough to heat 1.4 million homes. Both were previously approved under...