Westminster wants to introduce mandatory annual oil and gas licensing rounds, suggesting it will be a shot in the arm for the economy and boost energy security. It won’t.
It’s already causing headaches as Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, former energy minister, has just resigned over it.
Critics include former Prime Minister Theresa May, who highlights that new licensing won’t help with phasing out fossil fuels nor lower UK energy bills or boost energy security. This is because the oil and gas oil is sold on the international market to the highest bidder. Indeed, most of the oil has to go abroad to be refined. Other opponents include Alok Sharma, COP26 president, who said ministers should reconsider these plans.
The Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, currently before Parliament, includes two "tests" on emissions and imports which need to be passed each year before the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) can issue licences, but they are flawed.
The first test, the carbon intensity test, is disingenuous, comparing UK gas to the most polluting of imports, even though Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports are not the main source of gas imports. Also, it compares carbon intensity at the point of production rather than combustion - or when it is burned - which exaggerates the difference.
It is like saying that a cake has no calories as long as you don’t eat it.
Then there is the net importer test which will be met if the amount of oil and gas produced in the UK is less than demand. The UK will remain a net importer until decarbonisation policies significantly cut demand for fossil fuels.
These tests are impossible to fail. We believe all future extraction of fossil fuels must be subject to strict climate compatibility and energy security tests.
Then there's the harm to nature.
More than a quarter of the offshore sites licensed in October 2023 are within marine protected areas. Research shows that drilling the seabed destroys cold-water coral habitats and deep-sea sponge communities. Not to mention the “smaller, routine spillages'' which pollute the seas daily.
The North Sea’s reserves are dwindling, they're predominantly oil, not gas, so new discoveries are not likely. We’ve already burned most of the gas.
The recent past is proof: new licences issued since 2010 yielded 16 days' worth of gas. Between now and 2050, new licences are expected to provide just 103 days' worth. Clearly there is no jobs bonanza and by 2050, even with additional licensing, production is estimated to be at just 5% of what it is today compared to 3% without.
A just transition is needed to protect workers but the UK Government is controlling Scotland's oil and associated jobs. No just transition plans exist and 200,000 jobs have been lost in a decade.
Westminster has been happy to use Scotland’s oil and gas as a cash cow, squandering the proceeds while ignoring Scotland.
We are playing our part in achieving net zero. I hope that by mid-century we will have our independence; meantime, Scotland can still contribute to net-zero targets.
This bill threatens all that progress and should be halted.
Alan Brown is SNP MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Vice Chair of the Climate Change All Party Parliamentary Group
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