I will defend North Sea oil against SNP, pledges Rishi

PM intervenes over Nationalist plan to shut down production

RISHI Sunak has vowed to stand up for Scotland’s oil and gas industry and warned that the SNP’s plans would threaten tens of thousands of jobs and harm the environment.

The Prime Minister joined the major backlash against the SNP’s new energy strategy, which formally introduces a ‘presumption against’ oil and gas exploration.

The plan has even come under fire from Scottish Government energy advisers, who said they are ‘deeply concerned’ at the lack of policy detail.

They warned that it will be ‘impossible to achieve a just transition to net zero if there is no credible plan’.

SNP ministers have said domestic production in the North Sea will ‘effectively end’ in 20 years – and they want to consider moving even faster.

Asked about the Scottish Government’s energy strategy by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday,

Mr Sunak said: ‘We know we will have to rely on hydrocarbons for decades to come as we transition to net zero.

‘Consuming oil and gas from the North Sea means less than half the carbon footprint of importing that same oil and gas, which makes sense to do it here and in the process support tens of thousands of jobs in Scotland.

‘I can reassure him that the Scottish oil and gas industry has this Government’s wholehearted support.’

Mr Ross had said that it was ‘naïve and reckless’ for the SNP to propose shutting down the oil and gas industry as quickly as possible and an end to new exploration.

He also highlighted that Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, had previously described opposition to all new oil and gas fields as ‘crazy’.

Mr Sunak added: ‘What we do now know is that the Scottish Government don’t want to support the Scottish energy industry and the 200,000 jobs that it produces.

‘I’m keen to work with the Scottish Government to support the North Sea because it’s something that we’re all very proud of in the UK.’

When the energy strategy was published on Tuesday, the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce accused SNP ministers of a ‘betrayal’ of oil and gas workers.

It also yesterday emerged that the Scottish Government’s own advisers on the ‘just transition’ – the move to renewable energy – had raised concerns about the plans.

In a letter sent to Just Transition Minister Richard Lochhead, Professor Jim Skea, chairman of advisory group the Just Transition Commission, said: ‘We are deeply concerned about the lack of evidence of adequate policy actions to deliver a just transition for the energy sector, given the urgent need to shift gear in the rest of the 2020s.’

Energy Secretary Michael Matheson admitted there could be a jobs crisis similar to the 1980s coal mine closures unless the energy transition is handled properly.

He said: ‘There is going to be a decline, a significant decline, over the course of the next 20 years in oil and gas output within the North Sea.

‘The danger is that if we don’t manage that transition properly, we create the same economic difficulties that were created in the 80s when we saw the closure of coal mines and the damage that caused for many generations.

‘The critical thing is about managing that process and making sure we ramp up the speed at which we deploy renewables in order to provide that alternative employment opportunity.’

The strategy says 77,000 jobs in low-carbon energy are expected to be created by 2050 in Scotland, up from around 19,000 in 2019.