Environmentalists warn of close ties between oil and gas sector and UK’s North Sea regulator

Members of Oil and Gas Authority hold shares in fossil fuel firms, raising conflict of interest concerns

Campaigners have warned that close links uncovered between the oil and gas industry and the UK's North Sea regulator, which is responsible for licensing new fields, risk overly cosy" relationships that might affect the decision making process.

Three of the 13 members of the board of directors and senior management team of the Oil and Gas Authority hold sizeable shareholdings in oil companies, amounting to about 225,000, and eight of the 13 previously worked in the oil and gas industry, the news site the Ferret has found, in an investigation funded by the Uplift campaign against fossil fuels.