SCOTLAND’S Energy Secretary has called on UK ministers to raise its “level of ambition” on accelerating cleaning up the power supply system in response to attempts to end a reliance on Russian oil and gas.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson suggested that North Sea oil and gas could be crucial in helping to wean Europe off Vladimir Putin’s state-owned fossil fuels in response to his invasion of Ukraine.

But the UK Government and the Scottish Conservatives have now been accused of “doubling down on the industry that helped Putin accumulate power and influence”.

SNP Net Zero and Energy Secretary, Michael Matheson, has told MSPs that the response to ending relaince on Russian fuel does not lie in turning to the North Sea to ramp up production, warning: “The answer to this is to decarbonise at a faster rate so we do not have a dependency on oil and gas.”

Reports have suggested that some within the SNP, including the party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford and veteran MSP Fergus Ewing would like to see North Sea production scaled up in order to help phase out the reliance on Kremlin-backed fossil fuels.

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Mr Matheson insisted that “the unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations”.

He added: “Scotland’s energy sector has a crucial role to play as Europe and the world move beyond the age of fossil fuels and we can be a key part of a solution that seeks to ensure energy security amid ongoing economic and geo-political turbulence.

“Renewable power could provide a more consistent and stable form of energy supply in the wake of rising prices and unpredictable supplies of oil and gas.

“Our focus is now on achieving the fastest possible just transition for the oil and gas sector – one that delivers jobs and economic benefit, ensures an energy security and meets the climate obligations.”

He stressed that Scotland has “a very low reliance on importing oil and gas from Russia”, pointing to an estimate of two per cent of the country’s energy mix, adding that this “could easily be displaced by alternative routes”.

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Scottish Conservative energy and net zero spokesperson, Liam Kerr, told Mr Matheson: “The UK Government has been clear that we must ramp up domestic gas production to replace Russian supplies and reduce costs on UK families.”

He pointed to the apparent calls from within the SNP for a change of tact on North Sea oil and gas, raising Mr Ewing and Mr Blackford’ who he claimed have “demanded more homegrown gas for security of supply”.

Mr Kerr added: “What evidence does the Cabinet Secretary have that convinces him that in rejecting more domestic production, he and Nicola Sturgeon are right and everybody else is wrong?”

Mr Matheson highlighted that “the climate crisis that we face has not gone away”, calling for efforts to “step up the decarbonisation of our energy systems”, as Germany and the Netherlands yesterday acknowledged was needed.

He added: “The answer to this is to decarbonise at a faster rate so we do not have a dependency on oil and gas. That’s the answer to this.

“The failure of the UK Government to recognise that is demonstrated by the way in which they continued to have transmission charges that penalize Scottish projects, making them the most expensive in the whole of the UK.

“What we need from the UK Government is a level of ambition that matches ours in decarbonising our energy system and meeting our climate change obligations.”

Scottish Greens energy and climate spokesperson, Mark Ruskell, accused the Tories of “wilfully avoiding the scientific evidence and the fact that volatile gas prices are having a devastating impact on the cost of living”.

He added: “Across Europe governments are waking up to the fact that we must end our dependency on oil and gas. Stopping the Nord Link pipeline has been one of the most effective sanctions on Putin, thanks to the German Greens.

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“We know the public want a just transition away from oil and gas. Instead, the UK Tory Government is doubling down on the industry that helped Putin accumulate power and influence.

“It needs to urgently invest in renewables and insulation, instead of listening to the likes of Liam Kerr and Nigel Farage who would rather prop up polluters and plunge households into poverty by locking us into a future of volatile gas prices and climate breakdown.”

But Mr Kerr has claimed that “the SNP’s new-found hostility to oil and gas would do huge damage to the future of Scotland’s energy supply”.

He added: “Energy prices are at a record high, and hard-pressed Scots are bearing the brunt of a cost-of-living crisis, yet the SNP’s reckless opposition to oil and gas exploration would leave us over-reliant on costly imports to meet our energy demand.

“Even the SNP’s leader in Westminster recognises that in light of the situation with Russia we must make the most of North Sea oil and gas production.

“While domestic supply can’t meet demand, we are at the mercy of appalling events overseas.

“That reliance on foreign imports would be far greater, if we followed the policy of the SNP at Holyrood. Instead of trying to appease their Green coalition partners, they should be backing the use of North Sea oil and gas to safeguard our future energy supply.”