THE Scotland Office is to hold talks with the developers behind the proposed Cambo oilfield amid growing calls for it to be abandoned in the fight against climate change.
Minister David Duguid will meet Siccar Point Energy in Aberdeen tomorrow to discuss the controversial project off Shetland .
The Banff & Buchan MP, whose party warns too rapid a move away from fossil fuels would cost jobs, said it was “far preferable” for oil and gas to come from domestic sources than imports.
On Thursday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged the Prime Minister to “reassess” the Cambo licence in her first public intervention on the divisive issue.
Mr Duguid said he was “eager to learn more” about the project, adding: “As we transition to cleaner, low-carbon and renewable energy, demand for oil and gas is declining and will continue to do so, even with new fields such as Cambo.
“But until that transition is made, as the UK Government is pioneering with the North Sea Transition Deal, sources like Cambo are still required.
“The Independent Climate Change Committee advises that we will continue to need oil and gas in the coming years as it is still vital to the production of many everyday essentials, including medicines.
“It is far preferable for the UK’s needs to come from our domestic supply, supporting our own workers, rather than relying on imports whose sources may not be responsibly recovered.
“Not producing our own oil and gas through the energy transition not only risks the economy and jobs but also security of energy supply.”
An exploration licence for the field was granted in 2001 and the Oil and Gas Authority is considering whether to approve extraction of an estimated 800 million barrels of oil there.
In her letter to Boris Johnson, Ms Sturgeon called for the UK Government to “agree to reassess licences already issued but where field development has not yet commenced.”
She said that “would include the proposed Cambo development”.
However she stopped short of opposing Cambo herself, leading to claims she was hiding behind the PM and Westminster’s powers.
Last week, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report painting a stark picture of the impact of humanity on the climate due to the burning of fossil fuels.
It said global warming will continue into at least the middle of this century, but failure to take action to limit CO2 emissions now would mean the target set by governments – of remaining below 1.5C of warming – will be missed.
Even before the report, the Scottish Government was under pressure to oppose the development of Cambo, which is estimated will produce 132m tonnes of carbon during its lifetime – a figure that would need a land mass 1.5 times bigger than Scotland to counter.
Calls to oppose the development intensified after the IPCC’s findings were made public on Monday.
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