Thatcher's North Sea: The Return of Cheap Oil and the 'Neo-liberalisation' of European Energy (original) (raw)
This article will focus on the prominent role played by the British Conservative government, guided since 1979 by Margaret Thatcher, in re-launching globally an energy model based on cheap fossil fuels by leveraging the newly available petroleum extracted in the North Sea. Between 1980 and 2010 global oil consumption increased by 50 per cent, while both coal and natural gas consumption nearly doubled. North Sea oil represented a crucial, if never openly acknowledged, ally for Thatcher, serving the purpose of bringing down oil prices, while at the same time achieving other crucial policy goals.The advent of the British North Sea oil weakened OPEC control of the global oil market, helped crush the resistance of the British coal miners, fed the 'de-nationalisation' of British energy sector, and then contributed to promote the 'neoliberal governance' of the EU energy sector. This election is about the future of Britaina great country which seems to have lost its way. It is a country rich in natural resources, in coal, oil gas and fertile farmlands. 1 The 1973 'oil shock' inaugurated a decade of energy policy activism by the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 2 Key aims were to fight inflation and to avoid the risk of a repetition of the 1974-5 economic recession. 3 This was to be achieved by reducing dependence on OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil, by diversifying energy sources and by improving energy efficiency. Some sectors of the western European left also pushed for a new development model aimed at limiting 'maximum growth' and consumerism while focussing on resource conservation and investing in 'collective goods' such as public transport. 4 The oil shock triggered initiatives to secure petroleum supply through state to state deals with the
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