No ‘net zero’ pledge, no right to drill for North Sea explorers Oil and gas operators told to hit net zero or face exclusion from North Sea drilling licences 16 January 2021 • 8:00pm Oil and gas producers who refuse to commit to reducing their carbon emissions to “net zero” will be excluded from North Sea drilling licences, the new Business Secretary has signalled. Kwasi Kwarteng said a “quid pro quo” with the sector meant it would only get government support if it took “decarbonisation very seriously indeed”. Oil and gas producers in the UK have been under growing pressure to cut their methane and carbon dioxide emissions, which accounted for 4pc of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.