Oil and gas firms have unlisted links to Westminster
Lobbyists representing fossil fuel giants are quietly helping run parliamentary groups on energy and climate policy without the need to formally declare their involvement.
The trade associations, which are funded by oil and gas producers including Shell, BP and ExxonMobil, provide administrative and public relations support to groups of MPs.
Their roles are not included in official parliamentary transparency logs because of rules that say only benefits in kind above £1,500 a year must be recorded – a threshold the trade bodies say they do not meet.
In one case, the UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) – an alliance of eight of the world’s biggest oil companies – is playing a key role in the running of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on downstream energy and fuels. The association’s involvement is not listed as a benefit, and the names of the firms it represents do not appear in official parliamentary records. But it has helped arrange and chair meetings for the APPG and is listed as the public inquiry point, meaning people getting in touch about parliamentary business may first encounter an oil-industry PR representative.
The association’s members have also had access to MPs. In a meeting of the APPG in June – which the trade body jointly chaired – MPs were given keynote presentations by two of its members, the oil giants BP and Phillips 66.
The UKPIA said the APPG was “set up in accordance with relevant guidance” to consider the role the sector could “play in meeting government net zero goals” and that its “limited activities” meant the value of its services did not meet the £1,500 threshold.
Another trade body, Oil & Gas UK, recently rebranded as Offshore Energies UK, is listed as the inquiry point for the
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