The debate over new oil and gas fields usually ends in a familiar deadlock. Industry argues that production will still be needed for decades, supports jobs and reduces dependence on imports. Climate campaigners respond that every new field locks in emissions incompatible with net zero. Both sides then discuss carbon capture and storage as an afterthought: either a technological excuse for continued extraction or a costly public project unrelated to the licence being approved. There is a more useful option. If a government decides that a new oil…