Would more North Sea drilling mean lower energy prices for UK consumers?

Kemi Badenoch says removing the windfall tax put on oil companies after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine would stimulate production. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Oil prices hit $100 a barrel soon after the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran, and though prices have wobbled since, ongoing supply issues from the partial closure of the strait of Hormuz mean they could leap higher, to $150 a barrel or more, by some estimates.

The impacts could be severe – not just increases in the price of petrol, and oil for home heating, but also in the cost of gas, with knock-on inflationary pressures on food, consumer goods and industrial components.