Business
Badenoch in pledge to ‘get all our oil and gas out of the North Sea’
Kemi Badenoch has committed the Tories to extract as much oil and gas as possible from the North Sea.
The Conservative Party leader said it was “absurd” to leave the fossil fuel resources untapped.
But the Government said issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration would “not take a penny off bills” and would accelerate the “worsening climate crisis”.
A Conservative government would make “maximising extraction” its goal if it wins power, rather than measures aimed at shifting the North Sea industry away from fossil fuels.
Mrs Badenoch will use a speech in Aberdeen on Tuesday to set out her plans.
She will announce that the Tories plan to completely overhaul the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which oversees the issuing of licences, dropping the word transition and giving it a simple order to extract the maximum possible amount of fossil fuels.
Ahead of her speech, Mrs Badenoch pledged that “we are going to get all our oil and gas out of the North Sea”.
She said: “We are in the absurd situation where our country is leaving vital resources untapped while neighbours such as Norway extract them from the same seabed.
“With the ONS (Office for National Statistics) confirming that economic growth is down partly because of falling oil and gas extraction, we cannot afford not to be doing everything to get hydrocarbons out the ground.
“Britain has already decarbonised more than every other major economy since 1990, yet we face some of the highest energy prices in the developed world.
“This is not sustainable and it cannot continue. That is why I am calling time on this unilateral act of economic disarmament and Labour’s impossible ideology of net zero by 2050.
“Russia’s war in Ukraine has only underscored that our energy supplies are a matter of national security.”
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “We are already delivering a fair and orderly transition in the North Sea to drive growth and secure skilled jobs for future generations, with the biggest ever investment in offshore wind and three first of a kind carbon capture and storage clusters.
“We are committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis.”
A Labour Party spokeswoman said: “We’ll take no lectures from Kemi Badenoch. Every family and business paid the price of the Conservatives’ failure to secure the UK’s energy.
“The Conservatives oversaw thousands of lost jobs in the North Sea. In contrast, this Labour Government is investing in the North Sea’s clean energy future, creating good jobs in offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, as we take back control of our energy for good.”
Offshore Energies UK chief executive David Whitehouse said: “As long as the UK continues to use oil and gas, it makes sense to produce as much of it as we can here at home.
“Every barrel of oil and gas we leave in the North Sea is a barrel we’ll need to import.
“Even in a net zero future, the UK will use 10-15 billion barrels of oil and gas between now and 2050. Current plans show the UK will produce less than four billion barrels, leaving us increasingly reliant on imports.
“Producing it here supports jobs, strengthens our economy, and improves our energy security.”
Business
Market Today: Sensex Jumps 475 Points In Afternoon Trade, Nifty Trades Above 26,050 On Strong Buying
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The BSE Sensex jumps 335.08 points to trade at 85,151.32 in the early trade, while the NSE Nifty rises by 110.05 points to above 26,000 at 26,009.60.
Stock Market Today.
Market Today: Continuing strong momentum for the second day, the domestic equity market on Friday saw a positive opening amid global stability following the recent US Fed rate cut and easing crude oil prices. The BSE Sensex jumped 475.8 points to trade at 85,290.21 in the early trade, while the NSE Nifty surged by 152.63 points to above 26,000 at 26,051.32.
Among the 30 Sensex shares, 23 were trading in green. Among the top gainers were Tata Steel, Eternal, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharti Airtel, rising by up to 3.37%. On the other hand, the laggards were HUL, Sun Pharma, ITC, Asian Paints, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and SBI, falling by up to 1.77%.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap were trading higher by 1.21% and 0.67%, respectively.
“Sentiment remains supported by global stability following the recent US Fed rate cut and easing crude oil prices, although foreign fund outflows and rupee weakness keep traders somewhat cautious. The broader setup suggests a continuation of range-bound movement unless a clear breakout emerges,” said Aakash Shah, Technical Research Analyst at Choice Equity Broking.
Immediate support now lies around 25,750-25,800, and deeper support is positioned near 25,500. On the upside, resistance is expected around 26,000-26,050. Sustained trade above 26,050 may encourage further buying, potentially driving the index toward 26,300. Until then, intraday swings may remain contained, he added.
Global Markets
Asian stocks advanced in early trade on Friday following strength on Wall Street overnight, though a fresh decline in Oracle’s share price sent jitters through the tech sector. Financial markets had to move fast to find their footing this week when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates but gave a less hawkish outlook than expected, and the return of AI bubble worries added to the stress for investors.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.7%, tracking mostly higher US markets on Thursday, the Dow and Russell 2000 indices hit new highs but the Nasdaq fell. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 outperformed the region in morning trade, climbing 1% as shares in Softbank Group surged 6% after Bloomberg News reported it is considering acquiring the US data centre company Switch Inc.
S&P 500 e-mini futures were unchanged and Nasdaq future were down 0.2% as markets were on edge after Oracle shares plunged 13%, sparking a tech selloff, as the company’s massive spending and weak forecasts fanned doubts over how quickly the big bets on AI will pay off.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 12, 2025, 09:22 IST
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Business
Trump sanctions hit! Russia records lowest oil exports since Ukraine conflict; revenue falls to $11 billion – The Times of India
Russia’s oil exports crashed to their lowest point since the Ukraine war began, weighed down by buyers moving away from Moscow amid tightened US sanctions and Kyiv’s escalating attacks. In its latest assessment, the International Energy Agency (IEA) noted that Russian oil exports declined by 420 kb/d in November, pulling total shipments down to 6.9 mb/d.The drop in volumes and weakening prices pushed Moscow’s oil revenue down to $11 billion, which is $3.6 billion less than the same month last year. The IEA added that both export volumes and prices have dropped, “dragging export revenues to their lowest since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.”
Urals crude prices plunge
As exports dragged down, Urals crude prices also tumbled by $8.2/bbl to $43.52/bbl (one barrel is about 159 litres). This marked the lowest level since the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022.According to the IEA, this downturn pushed export revenues to their lowest monthly level since the invasion began.
Impact of Ukrainian strikes and Russia’s “shadow fleet”
The IEA said Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet” and marine oil facilities cut almost half of Russia’s November seaborne exports through the Black Sea.The pressure on shipments and prices comes as Russia struggles with meagre economic growth, the accumulated impact of sanctions and Ukrainian strikes on its energy infrastructure.Ukraine intensified strikes on Russian refineries over the summer and early autumn, causing domestic petrol prices to spike and prompting some Russian regions to introduce fuel rationing.“After weathering significant unplanned refinery outages in November, tightness in refined product markets has eased, but sanctions in 1Q26 will provide fresh challenges,” the IEA said.
Russia’s budget under strain
The Russian finance ministry reported that oil and gas revenues for the first nine months of the year were down 22% to $88 billion.A combination of high military spending, entrenched inflation and falling oil income has stretched Moscow’s budget. Russia is expected to post a $50 billion deficit this year, around three percent of GDP, and plans to raise taxes on consumers and businesses next year to narrow the gap.
US escalates pressure with tariffs and sanctions
The United States has warned several countries that they may face additional tariffs and punitive trade measures if they continue buying Russian oil. The EU has Washington recently imposed an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, citing its continued purchases of Russian crude. This was on top of the 25% tariff previously announced by US President Trump.In October, the US unveiled some of its toughest measures yet on Russia’s energy sector by sanctioning Rosneft and Lukoil, the country’s two biggest oil producers, in an effort to pressure Moscow to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
Global supply slips
Global oil supply fell by 610 kb/d in November, extending cumulative declines from September’s record high of 109 mb/d to 1.5 mb/d, the IEA said.OPEC+ accounted for more than three-quarters of the overall drop, driven mainly by sanctions-hit Russia and Venezuela. The group contributed 80% of the supply decline over the past two months, reflecting major unplanned outages in Kuwait and Kazakhstan, alongside continued contractions in Russia and Venezuela.Among non-OPEC+ producers, the United States, Brazil and biofuels were also contributors to the global supply decline.
Outlook — What will happen in the oil sector?
Despite recent market tightness, the IEA projects global oil supply to grow by 3 mb/d in 2025 and a further 2.4 mb/d in 2026. However, the agency revised its supply growth forecasts downward, by 100 kb/d for 2025 and 20 kb/d for 2026 — to 106.2 mb/d and 108.6 mb/d respectively.On the demand front, world oil consumption is expected to rise by 830 kb/d in 2025, supported by improved macroeconomic and trade conditions. The IEA has also upgraded its 2026 demand outlook to 860 kb/d, an increase of 90 kb/d from earlier estimates.Gasoil and jet/kerosene are projected to account for half of this year’s demand growth, while fuel oil continues to lose ground due to substitution by natural gas and solar in power generation.
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Meta India appoints Aman Jain as Head of Public Policy. Formerly at Amazon India and Google.
Meta India Appoints Aman Jain as New Head of Public Policy
Meta India has appointed Aman Jain as the new head of Public Policy to lead the company’s policy strategy and engagements with the government in India. He will join the company early next year, according to the press release.
He is currently the Director of Public Policy at Amazon India, where he leads policy strategy, stakeholder engagement and regulatory work. He has been in this role since November 2023.
Before joining Amazon, Aman spent over seven years at Google, holding multiple leadership positions in public policy and industry partnerships.
Across these roles, he led major engagements with ministries, regulators, industry bodies and global teams—especially around technology policy, fintech, digital ecosystems, competition, data governance and online safety.
Before his corporate roles, Aman also served in AIESEC International for over seven years, eventually becoming the President & CEO (Global). He led a global team across 110+ countries, created the mid-term organisational vision, oversaw governance reforms, and represented youth voices at global platforms like COP15 and the World Business Summit on Climate Change.
He has also led a private enterprise as Director at Peter & David Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
Jain completed his dual Master’s in Public Administration and International Relations.
Simon Milner, Vice President of Policy, Asia Pacific, India, is a strategic market for Meta. As the country’s digital economy accelerates across areas such as AI, emerging tech and the creator economy, Meta aims to help build a more inclusive, trusted, and future-ready internet ecosystem for India.
I’m pleased to welcome Aman as Head of Public Policy in India. His extensive experience in public policy and technology, will help Meta be an even more effective partner to regulators and industry stakeholders in developing an enabling policy environment. He will also be a strong addition to Meta’s APAC Policy leadership team.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 12, 2025, 11:25 IST
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Market Today: Sensex Jumps 475 Points In Afternoon Trade, Nifty Trades Above 26,050 On Strong Buying
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