Burnham’s plans ‘could give shot in the arm to Aberdeen’s oil and gas industry’

Writing in the Scotsman, Chris Sawyer of Pinsent Masons highlighted how the theme of local empowerment for driving up growth and living standards was at the heart of the recent speech Burnham delivered in Manchester. He said Aberdeen, home of the UK’s oil and gas industry, is “crying out for such a framework”.

“A global industry has been hampered by uncertainty,” Sawyer wrote. “Jobs, skills and investment in this sector are mobile, they will continue to leave the area and not return without clear direction, with the risk of damaging energy security, economic growth and the transition to a sustainable energy future for Britain.”

Current UK government policy is to oppose the issue of new licences for enabling exploration for new oil and gas in UK waters, a policy that would become a ban backed by statute if its new Energy Independence Bill – trailed in the King’s Speech in May – becomes law. Sawyer said Burnham “may be well-advised” to drop those plans if he comes to power and to “greenlight the final consents” for drilling at the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields.

Three reports published in recent months – from The Tony Blair Institute, the Robert Gordon University Energy Transition Institute, and the Our Scottish Future think tank, give support to that view, according to Sawyer.

The Tony Blair Institute said the UK should prioritise cheaper energy and electrification over net zero and use what is left of North Sea oil and gas resources to do so, to deliver energy security amidst global geopolitical uncertainty, while the Robert Gordon University Energy Transition Institute and Our Scottish Future reports highlighted the role for the oil and gas industry in supporting a just energy transition.

“Logically, directly empowering the north east of Scotland and other areas of the UK which support the oil and gas industry to go for growth should mean relaxing the current Labour policy of no new licensing and high taxation,” Sawyer said.