Harbour’s Judy platform
Harbour bullish on UKCS drilling
The firm will add a fifth rig as it seeks to extend reserve life in the basin
It is perhaps an indictment of the level of debate on the role of oil and gas on the journey to net zero that it has taken the tragic events in Ukraine to stimulate greater political and public interest in the relatively low-carbon barrels and molecules available to the UK from the North Sea. But a change in sentiment is noticeable and reinforced by increased enthusiasm for drilling by London-listed Harbour Energy, the largest independent producer on the UK continental shelf (UKCS). The firm has four rigs active in the basin and will add a fifth to drill in the Beryl area in the Northern North Sea by mid-year. One of the four recently arrived at Catcher in the Central North Sea (CNS), where
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
