A new UK oil and gas regulator should be established in Scotland to replace the "under-resourced and under-powered" Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) operation, according to Scotland's Energy Minister.
An interim report by Sir Ian Wood concluded that the DECC regulator is "no longer adequate to meet the challenges of managing an increasingly complex basin".
Sir Ian will shortly publish his full Maximising Economic Recovery in the North Sea report.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "I call on the UK Government to back Sir Ian's plans by announcing the creation of a new fit for purpose North Sea regulator based in Aberdeen, without delay.
"Sir Ian's interim report estimated that the prize from increased and effective co-operation could be an additional three to four billion barrels of oil equivalent over 20 years, which could be worth £200 billion.
"Time is of the essence. In line with industry, we believe that it is essential these recommendations are implemented with speed, and that a shadow body be set up now, rather than await the outcome of primary legislation.
"I share Sir Ian's view that the industry should finance this body, and since most of the developments in the North Sea and west of Shetland are managed from Aberdeen, that is the only conceivable principal location for the new regulatory body.
"By addressing the challenges facing the oil and gas industry and harnessing the opportunities, enormous benefits can be reaped by the industry and by Scotland.
"The publication of Sir Ian's final report is expected next week, along with the UK Government's response, and I look forward to considering these in full."
The interim report said the existing regulator is "significantly under-resourced and under-powered".
The Scottish Government appointed an Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas in September 2013, chaired by Melfort Campbell, who will report in the spring.
In addition to the regulatory regime, the Commission will make specific proposals in relation to the North Sea fiscal regime with a view to providing long term stability and predictability for the industry. It will also consider Sir Ian's recommendations in full.
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 hereComments are closed on this article