LONDON -- The British government, pressed for solutions to soaring fuel prices, said it will exempt about 30 existing North Sea crude-oil and natural-gas fields from some taxes and approved the development of two new North Sea oil fields, which could begin production in early 2009.

But the measures, announced as U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling met with U.K. oil-industry executives to explore ways to increase oil and gas production, seemed unlikely to significantly alter Britain's...