the times | Monday January 3 2022 2GM 31
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7,384.54 (+11.20)Nov 30 Dec 8 16 247,500
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6,000Emily Gosden Energy Editor
The energy secretary met oil industry
bosses for a private dinner days after
the Cop26 climate summit to encour-
age them to keep drilling in the North
Sea.
Kwasi Kwarteng dined with execu-
tives from companies including Shell
and BP in a charm offensive designed to
reassure them of government support
for UK oil and gas projects, despite
public pledges to move away from fossil
fuels, The Times can reveal.
The news highlights the competing
pressures that the government faces as
it seeks to bolster its green credentials
and act on climate change, while also
ensuring that Britain’s energy needs are
met as the gas crisis stokes fears over
security of supply.
The dinner with Kwarteng and Tim
Eggar, chairman of the Oil and Gas
Authority, the regulator, took place in
London on November 16, three days
after the signing of the Glasgow climate
pact that aims to keep in reach the goal
of limiting global warming to 1.5C. The
International Energy Agency has said
that to achieve this goal no new oil and
gasfields should be developed.
The government has said that it will
keep awarding licences despite the
IEA’s advice, subject to “climate
compatibility” checks. However, the
industry is increasingly nervous about
investing, amid rising opposition from
Labour and the Scottish National Party
and with government support seen as
lukewarm.
As gas prices soared in the autumn,
Kwarteng repeatedly said the crisis
showed that Britain needed to end its
reliance on fossil fuels. “Don’t believe
anyone who tells you the answer to a
global gas crisis is simply drilling for
more fossil fuels,” he wrote. Oil groups
were barred from formal roles at
Cop26, with Shell complaining that it
was “not welcome”.
A source said that the dinner had
been designed to calm the nerves of oil
executives after the summit and to give
Energy secretary encouraged North Sea drilling
Kw a r t e n g
courted
oil bosses
after Cop26
them “political confidence”, including
reassuring them of support for future
licensing before last month’s consulta-
tion on climate checks. Guests included
Gordon Birrell, executive vice-presi-
dent of production at BP, Zoe
Yujnovich, upstream director at Shell,
Al Cook, executive vice-president at
Equinor, Sam Laidlaw, chairman of
Neptune Energy, and Amjad Bseisu,
chief executive of EnQuest.
However, the dinner failed to
reassure some executives. Shell aban-
doned the multibillion-pound Cambo
oil project two weeks later.
“Any international investor that has
options where to put their money isn’t
going to consider the UK very attrac-
tive right now,” one source familiar with
the talks said.
Executives are said to have told
Kwarteng that they needed stronger
political backing to continue to invest.
He has stepped up public support,
tweeting last month that “there will
continue to be an ongoing need for oil +
gas over the coming decades”. He
added: “We’re backing the oil + gas sec-
tor to decarbonise in a way that protects
jobs + energy security.”
John Sauven, executive director of
Greenpeace, said: “This schmoozefest
looks suspiciously like a desperate
attempt by the UK government to
reassure the fossil fuel industry that it’s
business as usual in the North Sea even
after the commitments made at the
Glasgow climate summit. The fact that
the Cambo oilfield project tanked just
weeks after this dinner suggests not
even oil bosses believe that.” He urged
the government to manage a “just
transition”, instead of “cosying up to oil
and gas companies”.
A government source said: “It’s right
that the energy secretary engages with
energy companies during a global gas
crisis. Without a domestic source of oil
and gas, the UK would be even more
dependent on foreign imports and
exposed to rocketing global gas prices.”
The government would “continue to
back our oil and gas sector”, they said.STARTRAKS/SHUTTERSTOCKStriking it rich David Beckham is expected to make millions from the sale of a
55 per cent stake in DB Ventures, his company, to Authentic Brands, an American
business that also owns Reebok and rights to Marilyn Monroe. Page 34Match sues
Muslim love
rival for
‘copying app’
Louisa Clarence-Smith
Chief Business CorrespondentThe American dating powerhouse
behind Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid is
set for a court battle with a British
dating app for Muslims this month after
accusing it of copying its apps and
services.
Match Group, which claims to have
“pioneered the concept of online
dating” more than 20 years ago, has
accused Muzmatch of trademark
infringement.
The American group is best known
for Tinder, whose users swipe right or
left to show their interest or lack of it in
a potential suitor.
Muzmatch was founded a decade ago
by Shahzad Younas, 37, a former
Morgan Stanley banker who wanted to
create an app for single Muslims to
meet online. It started as an online
matchmaking site, was launched as an
app in 2015 and now has more than
five million members in 190 countries.
Match Group, which has a market
capitalisation of about $37 billion, has
alleged that Muzmatch has used
“match” in the metadata of its website
to help it to appear more prominently
in internet searches. According to the
American company, Muzmatch uses
keyword tags including “match-mus-
lim” and “uk-muslim-match”, which it
claimed were an “attempt to ride on the
coat-tails” of Match’s registered marks.
Muzmatch is fighting the claims,
saying that Match does not have a
monopoly over the word “match” when
used in the context of dating services. It
said that it had chosen the Muzmatch
mark as a play on “Muslim” and
“match”. From the outset, Muzmatch’s
website and app have made clear that it
provides matchmaking and introduc-
tion services for Muslims who are look-
ing for marriage, in accordance with
Islamic values, the defence states.
Muzmatch detailed features on its
app that differed from Match’s services.
Users can include a chaperone in their
search who receives a transcript of all
conversations on the app. Users are
blocked if they seek casual dates and
sexual conversations are banned.
Match Group wrote to Muzmatch in
2016 alleging acts of trademark
infringement and a year later it tried to
acquire Muzmatch. In total, four offers
to acquire the business were made,
including one of $35 million, according
to Muzmatch, which rejected the offers.
Match Group subsequently bought
Harmonica, an Egyptian Muslim
matchmaking app, renamed Hawaya.
The case will be heard at the UK In-
tellectual Property and Enterprise
Court in London on January 17.