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 i

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