Thousands of North Sea jobs at risk because of Government’s zealotry, Tories say

Thousands of jobs in the North Sea are being put at risk because the Government is driven by “zealotry”, the Conservatives have said.

Shadow environment minister Andrew Bowie said the Government will be forced to rely on imports if it shuts down the UK’s oil and gas industry, as he pressed the Government on its plans for Rosebank and Jackdaw.

Energy minister Michael Shanks said the Government is having to “clear up a mess” created by the Tories and it will be following “due process” when it comes to the two Scottish oil and gas fields.

This comes after a judge upheld a legal challenge by environmental campaigners against the decision to grant consent to the Rosebank oil field north-west of Shetland, and the Jackdaw gas field off Aberdeen, earlier this year.

Greenpeace and Uplift said the former Conservative government and North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) had acted unlawfully when granting consent to the projects, because assessments did not take into account downstream emissions resulting from the burning of the extracted fuels.

In an urgent question to the Commons on Monday, Mr Bowie said: “It is deeply disappointing and yet unsurprising that this Government, driven by the zealotry that it is, is happy to put billions of pounds of investment and thousands of jobs at risk just because it doesn’t align with Just Stop Oil’s vision of the future.

“It demonstrates that this Government is not willing to stand up for businesses or workers. The party opposite seems to misunderstand this simple point: if we shut down our oil and gas industry, we will not use any less oil and gas.

“We will be simply relying on more imports instead.”

Mr Bowie also claimed that “the self harm inflicted on the North Sea is damaging investment in other offshore renewables industries too” and is “wrecking our path forward”.

Mr Shanks replied: “He knows as well as anyone that this is a live process and that the companies involved in these two projects have the right to apply in the future, and it would be wrong for me to, in the House of Commons or anywhere else, prejudice those applications.”

He added: “What he failed to mention in his questions was how we got to this place we are at the moment, the Court of Session clearly outlines in their judgment that the previous secretary of state made a decision which was unlawful.

“And so once again, this Labour Government is having to clear up a mess created by the previous Conservative government and, unlike them, we are going to follow due process.”

He continued: “We were very clear during the election that our position is no new licences to explore new fields. These two projects, of course, are already in existing licensed fields.

“The question for the courts to decide was the consent for these individual new projects, and that is the process that we will now take forward if these companies should wish to resubmit their applications.”

The former Conservative-led UK government approved Shell’s proposals to develop the Jackdaw field in 2022, and cleared Equinor and Ithaca Energy’s plans to drill in the Rosebank field in September 2023.

In his judgment published last month, Lord Ericht said the decision to grant consent was unlawful and ruled the consent should be “reduced” (quashed) and reconsidered.

SNP MP Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) accused the Government of “going out of their way to accelerate the decline in North Sea oil and gas jobs”.

Mr Shanks replied: “The position of the SNP in Holyrood is the same as our position, which is that any new licences have to be cognisant of climate change obligations.”

He added: “If (Mr Doogan) supported some of the investment that we have proposed, like Great British Energy in Aberdeen, instead of deriding it at every single turn, I have united again all the members of Parliament from the north-east of Scotland who oppose investment in their own constituencies.”

Conservative MP Bradley Thomas (Bromsgrove) said “there is a double standard in the Government backing expansion at Heathrow to drive economic growth, but not providing maximum possible support to our domestic oil and gas industry”.

Mr Shanks replied: “I think the important thing here is that this is not an either or. I think oil and gas will continue to play an important role in our economy for many, many years to come, but we do have to plan for what comes next and take cognisance of our legal and climate obligations.”

DUP MP Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) said the “liquid gold which lies under this country” could generate jobs, tax revenue, energy security, and reduce the import bill.

He added: “Is it not a fact that this court judgment has driven a hole in the growth strategy?”

Mr Shanks replied: “The reason we are here is because the court ruled that the previous government made an unlawful decision, by not taking into account the judgment of the Supreme Court.”