DAVID Cameron will visit Aberdeen today as the Conservative Government signs a £250 million 'deal' designed to help the city weather the dramatic fall in the oil price.
But the amounts jointly pledged by both the UK and Scottish Governments are expected to fall far short of the almost £3 billion requested.
The Prime Minister is also due to announce measures to help protect oil and gas jobs while he is in Aberdeen.
Earlier this month one of his ministers hinted at possible tax breaks for the beleaguered sector.
Yesterday Mr Cameron said that, despite the current crisis, a "bridge to the future" could be built for the "vital" North Sea.
He also hit out at the SNP, saying that with the drop in the oil price the party’s planned Independence Day would have been a “very, very dark day indeed”.
Last week First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged the Tory Government to urgently confirm the deal to protect the Aberdeen's position as an oil and gas hub.
Aberdeen will be Scotland's second City Deal, after a similar announcement of up to £1.1bn for Glasgow in 2014.
It is designed to help the oil and gas industry maximise the remaining North Sea resources and enable the economy to diversify.
Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils submitted a bid for a deal worth £2.9bn over two decades last year.
The agreement brings together government and council funds, alongside private investment, in a bid to boost local economic growth.
It will help support a new energy innovation centre, the expansion of Aberdeen harbour, enabling the city to compete for decommissioning work, and support for growing pharmaceutical and agri-food industries.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell will sign the deal on behalf of the UK Government today.
Mr Cameron will visit Aberdeen later to meet local employers and workers as well as senior executives from the oil and gas industry, to hear about the challenges facing the industry.
Mr Mundell said: “I know it’s a very tough time for people who work in the industry and their families, and I am determined that the UK Government will do what it can to support them.
"We need action which will help in the short, medium and long terms – helping the UK’s oil and gas industry to export its world-class expertise around the globe; and encouraging diversification of the economy to create new opportunities in other sectors too."
He added: "We have seen in Glasgow the extra jobs and growth that this kind of deal can bring, and I want to see the same achieved in and around Aberdeen."
In the last Budget, the UK Government announced a £1.3bn package of reforms for the UK Continental Shelf, including tax cuts for the industry and a £20m funding boost for seismic surveying to boost offshore exploration.
The industry body Oil and Gas UK has warned of tough times and jobs losses ahead.
At one point earlier this month the price of oil fell to $32 a barrel.
Mr Mundell will also formally announce plans for a formal memorandum of understanding between Aberdeen and Pemba, in the north east of Mozambique, designed to help the city create a local oil and gas hub based on the Aberdeen model.
Mozambique, which has huge reserves of offshore natural gas, is expected to become a major global producer in coming years.
Aberdeen City Council was awarded a £120,000 grant from the Foreign Office to help draw up the action plan for the Pemba hub.
The move is designed to boost growth and investment in Mozambique as well as open up opportunities in consulting, logistics, training and the supply chain for British companies, particularly those based in Scotland.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel