Currently, there is no set time between licensing rounds; however, a bill that will be unveiled in Tuesday’s King’s Speech would change this.

Ministers declared that the policy would “bolster energy security” and stipulated that projects would have to meet net zero targets.

Greenpeace declared that supporting the production of oil and gas was “backward-facing” and promised to challenge new licenses in court.

A line is drawn in the plans between the Conservatives and Labour, the latter of which claims it wants to prioritize investing in renewable energy over fossil fuels.

Labour has stated that, should it win power, it would not accept any new licenses and would instead honor those that were already granted prior to the next general election.

Ed Milliband, Labour’s shadow energy security secretary, criticized the proposals, calling them a “desperate political strategy” that