No10 hopeful Liz Truss has been accused of plotting a North Sea “drilling frenzy” in a bid to ease spiralling energy prices.
The bookies’ favourite to succeed Boris Johnson is said to be planning to unleash a fresh wave of fossil fuel extraction off the UK coast to combat record gas and electricity bills.
But the plan, thought to have been devised by top allies Jacob Rees-Mogg and Kwasi Kwarteng, triggered a furious reaction from environmental campaigners.
Greenpeace warned it would take 25 years to pump out and "have no real impact on energy bills ", while exacerbating climate change.
The Tories have been accused of being missing in action over calamitous energy price hikes, with no details due on the cost of living plan before the new PM is announced next week.
One of Ms Truss' first acts if she becomes PM would be to approve a string of oil and gas drilling licences, according to the Times.
Greenpeace UK's chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: “Unleashing a North Sea drilling frenzy isn’t a plan to help bill payers but a gift to the fossil fuel giants already making billions from this crisis.
"New oil and gas could take a quarter of a century to pump out, will be eventually sold at global prices, and have no real impact on energy bills yet still fuel the climate crisis.”
He added: “If Liz Truss really wants to help cash-strapped households, she should bring in an energy bill freeze alongside extra financial support for the poorest households, partly funded by properly taxing the astronomical profits of oil and gas companies.”
Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, Danny Gross, said: "New gas and oil fields will take decades to develop and do nothing to address the cost-of-living crisis or the climate emergency.
"On average, newly licenced fields will only start production by around 2050 – at exactly the same time as the UK has pledged to reach net zero emissions.
“Ending our reliance on increasingly costly fossil fuels should be a top priority for the next prime minister."
Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said issuing more drilling licences in the North Sea would not fix the current energy cost crisis.
She told Times Radio: "No, it's not [the answer], and the answer really is to be taking action to get the cost of those bills down."
It comes as Boris Johnson condemned environmental protesters for "wreaking havoc" on the nation's roads.
Downing Street said Just Stop Oil demonstrations were costing taxpayers millions of pounds and "putting lives in danger".
Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused the "thugs and so-called eco-warriors" of "waging a war against the British people".
