Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,
The current UK government's policy of not allowing new drilling in the UK North Sea is “utter madness” as billions of barrels of untapped oil could benefit the UK industry and reduce Britain’s reliance on imports, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, has said.
The ruling Labour government of Sir Keir Starmer has recently moved to permanently ban new oil and gas licenses in the UK section of the North Sea, drawing criticism from the UK offshore industry associations and from the Tories.
The Conservatives’ Badenoch commented this week on a new study by the University of Aberdeen, whose researchers said on Wednesday that it would be “economically, environmentally, and strategically beneficial for the UK to prioritise domestic oil and gas production rather than increasing reliance on imports.”
The University of Aberdeen’s peer-reviewed study found that significant untapped potential remains in the West of Shetland basin, which is estimated to contain about 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) yet to be discovered.
The study highlights that the remaining potential in the area could extend the life of the UK oil and gas sector, said Nick Schofield, Professor of Igneous & Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen.
“West of Shetland is not a depleted frontier - it is a technically demanding but strategically important energy province,” Schofield noted.
The study showed the “utter madness” of the ruling Labour in opposing drilling in the North Sea, Badenoch said.
“The University of Aberdeen survey just demonstrates the utter madness of the stance taken by Keir Starmer and John Swinney,” the leader of the Conservatives said in remarks carried by Belfast Telegraph.
“Domestic oil and gas are vital to the nation’s energy security, as well as being the economic lifeblood of the North East,” Badenoch said.
“Yet the industry is on its knees due to the windfall tax and the ban on new developments. The Conservatives would scrap both immediately,” she added.
Tyler Durden Sat, 06/06/2026 - 08:10Global internet traffic has surged in recent years, more than doubling between 2020 and 2025 as digital services, streaming and cloud computing continue to expand worldwide.
As Statista's Tristan Gaudiaut details below, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), total traffic volumes have increased sharply across both fixed (landline) and mobile networks.
You will find more infographics at Statista
As the chart shows, landline traffic remains by far the dominant channel, rising from around 3,100 exabytes in 2020 to 7,300 exabytes in 2025.
Mobile data usage has also grown rapidly, climbing from about 560 to 1,500 exabytes over the same period.
In both cases, Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share, at 50 to 60 percent, with traffic more than doubling across fixed networks and reaching over 900 exabytes on mobile alone.
Other regions have followed a similar upward trajectory, albeit at lower levels.
The Americas and Europe remain the second- and third-largest markets, while regions such as Africa and the Arab States have recorded particularly strong relative growth, reflecting rising connectivity and smartphone adoption.
Overall, the data highlights the accelerating scale of global data consumption, with fixed networks continuing to carry the bulk of traffic even as mobile usage expands rapidly.
With one exabyte equivalent to one billion gigabytes, which is roughly equivalent to the storage capacity of about 8 million 128GB smartphones, the figures underscore the massive and growing infrastructure demands of the digital economy.
Tyler Durden Sat, 06/06/2026 - 07:35