Chancellor Philip Hammond pledged the "broad shoulders" of the UK would continue to support Scotland as he announced £5 million funding for oil and gas exploration.
He stressed North Sea oil was a "vital" part of the UK and Scottish economies, and said the extra cash could help boost job prospects in Aberdeen.
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) will use the money to survey under-explored areas of the UK Continental Shelf in a bid to find undiscovered oil fields.
Mr Hammond, who is visiting Aberdeen and Dundee during a trip to Scotland, said: "The oil and gas industry remains vital for the Scottish economy and the UK as a whole. The £5 million funding I am announcing will help exploration to find potential new deposits, and boost prospects for jobs in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.
"This continues the UK Government's extensive package of tax and funding support for the industry and the wider Scottish economy."
UK Energy Minister Richard Harrington said: "North Sea oil will continue to fuel growth and jobs across Scotland and the rest of the UK, with an estimated 10 to 20 billion barrels still remaining.
"I was in Aberdeen last month and saw first-hand the work of the Oil and Gas Authority which we established to be a strong, independent regulator focused on maximising economic recovery.
"The sector continues to have the full support of the UK Government, confidence is returning, and today's announcement recognises there are great opportunities for further exploration."
The Chancellor also met business leaders in Dundee, a city being transformed by the regeneration of the waterfront area, including the construction of the new V&A museum there.
The city has also become a hub for the life sciences industry - with both this and the building of the new museum being supported by UK funding.
Mr Hammond said: "I've seen today how Dundee has benefited from our life sciences and creative sector funding.
"I now look forward to progress being made on the Tay Cities Deal, which will follow the £1 billion already committed by the UK to Scotland's City Deals so far.
"This government will continue using the UK's broad shoulders to provide Scotland with the skills and support it needs to thrive in the future."
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