REVIVING controversial plans to open up a North Sea oil field would do nothing to reduce prices for consumers or improve the UK’s energy security, ministers have been warned.

Shell, which previously announced it was pulling out of Siccar Point Energy’s proposals for the Cambo oil field near Shetland, has indicated it is rethinking that decision in light of global energy security concerns.

Since Siccar put the development on hold in December, the price of oil has since risen to more than 100 dollars (£76) a barrel, with fears over the future of Russian oil sending prices soaring – while there have been calls to boost energy security by increasing North Sea oil and gas drilling.

Sources have told the BBC that although Shell’s official position remains the same, it did acknowledge the “economic, political and regulatory environment had changed enormously” in the three months since the company announced it was pulling out of the project.

Shell’s decision to withdraw was announced just weeks after the UK hosted the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, where countries pledged to try to limit global warming to 1.5C to avoid the worst impacts of an overheating planet.

But ministers have been warned that the rethink by Shell is likely to make no difference to fears over UK energy security and rising fuel costs – with the crude oil in the Cambo field being unsuitable for the domestic market.

The oil that would be extracted from Cambo is heavy crude, the majority of which is exported overseas from the UK.

The statutory advisers to the UK and Scottish governments, the Climate Change Committee, has also warned that ramping up North Sea oil and gas is a pointless endeavour to reduce energy bills in the UK amid a global fossil fuels market.

Documents from Siccar Point Energy state that it will take four years from production beginning to the first oil being ready for consumption at Cambo.

UK Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has warned that "for as long as we depend on oil and gas – wherever it is from – we are all vulnerable to Putin’s malign influence on global markets".

The Scottish Greens, who are in coalition with the SNP at Holyrood, have cautioned against the plans being resuscitated and called on the UK Government to stop using the war in Ukraine “as an excuse” to halt climate crisis progress.

Scottish Greens energy and climate spokesperson, Mark Ruskell, said: “Any U-turn from Shell would be based purely on maximising its already eye-watering profits, it certainly wouldn’t help with soaring energy bills or our energy security.”

“The fact is most crude oil extracted from this site would be exported so it would have little impact on energy security and a be massive blow to the transition away from fossil fuels."

"If we are going to tackle Putin’s power and the impact rising energy bills are having on the cost of living, we need to reduce our reliance on oil and gas and invest in renewable energy.

“The UK Government must stop using the war in Ukraine as an excuse to abandon climate commitments. Next week’s energy supply strategy has to recognise the UN’s call that the transition to clean energy is a global security imperative, as well as being the only way we meet climate targets and secure a future.”

The Scottish Conservatives have called on the First Minister and her government to reconsider their “negativity” to new oil and gas developments in the North Sea.

Liam Kerr, Scottish Tories energy, net zero and transport spokesperson, said: "Nicola Sturgeon's decision to abandon North Sea oil and gas undoubtedly shook confidence in the sector, so it was no surprise Cambo was paused in the face of that negativity.

"This SNP-Green coalition would turn off the taps in the North Sea tomorrow if they could.”

He added: "The Scottish Conservatives repeatedly warned them, and Labour, about the ramifications for domestic energy security — and Putin’s appalling invasion of Ukraine has brought into even sharper focus the importance of not relying on foreign oil and gas imports."

"Their dogmatic refusal to change course looks more reckless by the day, so Nicola Sturgeon must admit she’s got this wrong and give her backing to Scottish oil and gas production — and the tens of thousands of skilled jobs it supports.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s climate and energy campaigner, Caroline Rance, has suggested that "new fields approved today wouldn’t start producing for years, and would do absolutely nothing for people’s soaring energy bills this year".

She added: "The suggestion that increasing UK oil and gas production will protect consumers is simply false."

Philip Evans, oil and gas transition campaigner for Greenpeace UK, added: “The type of oil that can be extracted from Cambo is not usable in the UK, so this project will do nothing to tackle high bills or shore up energy security."

“Shell’s reported flip-flopping on Cambo shows exactly why we need to get off oil and gas and move towards homegrown renewable energy.

“Shell wasn’t interested in pursuing this project when it was a bad look for them, but now they stand to gain billions in the midst of war-time price hikes - they’re interested again.

“Meanwhile our bills soar, and offshore workers are trapped in a volatile industry.

“The UK and North Sea communities deserve better. With the Spring Statement and a new energy strategy coming up, the government must throw its weight behind British renewables, a proper home insulation scheme and heat-pump roll-out, or our energy policy will be disrupted by the whims of fossil fuel giants for decades.”

The UK Government and the Oil and Gas Authority will give the go-ahead for any permission for the Cambo project – while calls have been made, including from the Climate Change Committee, to extend the Westminster government’s climate compatibility checkpoint to include the Cambo application.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government’s position is clear that unlimited extraction of fossil fuels is not consistent with our climate obligations and we call again on the UK Government, who have the power to act in this instance, to urgently re-assess all approved oil licences where drilling has not yet commenced against our climate commitments.

“Our position has been supported by the UK and Scottish governments’ statutory advisers on climate change, the Climate Change Committee, who agreed that any effective and credible checkpoint must also extend beyond new licensing rounds to also cover those fields that have already been consented but are not yet in production – such as Cambo."