Labour’s plan to move the UK away from its reliance on oil and gas has caused consternation among businesses operating in the North Sea, who said the speed of the transition could not be achieved without job losses and the threat of energy shortages.
The party has set a target of 2030 to turn the UK into a “clean energy superpower” and will refuse to grant licences to explore new North Sea oil and gas fields if it wins the next general election, which is likely to take place next year.
The policy would have huge implications for a sector which supports 200,000 UK jobs, including 90,000 in Scotland, according to trade body Offshore Energies UK.
Its chief executive David Whitehouse said the policy would create a “cliff edge” for the industry that would deter investment and heighten the risk of energy shortages.
He told the BBC that 180 of the North Sea’s 283 active oil and gas fields were due to close by 2030, meaning that without new licences production would “plummet” and leave staff vulnerable.
The GMB union, meanwhile, claimed the UK was going to need some oil and gas until 2050 and beyond and that a ban on new licences “ignores this reality”.
This position was echoed by Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, whose policy director Ryan Crighton said Labour’s promise of a greener future had been “completely overshadowed by a position on oil and gas, which is not grounded in the realities of the energy transition and will drive away the very companies they want to partner with”.
“Their failure to meaningfully engage with the people, companies and regions delivering the energy transition is evident in this naïve policy, which has now placed jobs, investment and energy security at risk,” he added.
However, environmental groups said Labour’s policy did not go far enough, as the party has confirmed that it will not revoke the licences of any new oil and gas fields granted between now and the election.
This means the controversial new Rosebank development west of Shetland could still go ahead under a Labour government, producing an estimated 70,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak.
“Saying no to new licences is an important start, but the Labour leader needs to go further,” said Mary Church, Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns.
“All parties need to acknowledge that no new projects can go ahead and some existing oil wells will have to be phased down before they run dry.
“If Rosebank, or any other development is approved by the current UK Government, then it will have to be shut down by the next UK Government.”
