(Con):...I speak as someone of
Shetland parentage, like my noble friend , and much of what I have to say
relates to Shetland. I wish first to deal with the Cambo
oilfield, north-west of the Shetlands, which Shell recently
announced it is pulling out of. The project is currently awaiting
the green light from the Government’s Oil and Gas Authority,
which I hope will be forthcoming. I hope that the authority will
bear in mind the words of the Shell spokesman
when announcing the Cambo decision:
“continued investment in oil and gas in the UK remains critical
to the country’s energy security. We believe the North Sea
and Shell in
it has a critical role to play in the UK’s energy mix, supporting
the jobs and skills to enable a smooth transition to Britain’s
low carbon future.”..
(LD):...Even
without the urgent pressure to tackle climate change, the UK
continental shelf is a mature province and production is in
decline. The question is how we manage it. Since the
establishment of the nationalist/Green coalition in Scotland, the
Government have joined forces with campaigners to promote the
accelerated shutdown of Scotland’s offshore industry. Having
built the case for independence during the referendum on that
very oil and gas industry, the SNP is asking us to believe that
we could do it just as easily without it. Knowing that the
decision rested with the UK, called for the cancellation
of the Cambo field, and it appears that that may have contributed
to Shell’s decision to pull out of the project.
Regardless of the merits of Cambo, the accelerated shutdown of
the North Sea, pressed for by Green Ministers, will make
achieving net zero harder, take longer and be more costly...
To read the whole debate, CLICK HERE
