Negotiations over Aberdeen's £3 billion City Deal have been positive, but the onus remains on civic leaders to come up with a credible proposal, according to the northern powerhouse minister.
James Wharton told MPs conversations were ongoing and that his officials continued to have "constructive dialogue" over the potential agreement with officials from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils as well as the Scottish Government.
He also confirmed Conservative peer Lord Dunlop, parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Scotland Office, would be happy to meet the SNP's Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman who led a debate on the matter in the Commons.
But asked to spell out a timetable for the negotiations, which were announced at the Budget in March, the Tory minister did not give any specific details.
He said: "Each agreement must be a genuine deal with offers and asks on both sides and the onus remains on Aberdeen and its partners to develop a credible proposal.
"That is something that we want to see happen, we want to see delivered, but there is a process that needs to be taken through in order to deliver that to ensure that any deal is robust, offers value for money for taxpayers, it offers value for money for people and it delivers what it is supposed to for the people and the economy of Aberdeen."
Ms Blackman said it was vital to act to ensure Aberdeen continues to be a competitive region and a global centre of excellence.
"With the challenges of a mature field and a low oil price, we need to get very good, very quickly at performing in this new environment," she added.
"Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire need to become world leaders at things like decommissioning. We have the talent and the skills locally and we have the ability to export those skills as other fields across the world reach the end of production.
"Aberdeen is uniquely placed to take the lead for the UK in renewable technologies as well."
She described the City Deal as a "long overdue positive initiative." for the area, which she said had suffered due to delays to major infrastructure projects in the pipeline since the 1940s and problems with transport connectivity.
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