An SNP MSP has broken with his party, calling for the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil fields to be approved by the UK Government.
Jack Middleton – a former Scottish Government adviser under Humza Yousaf and John Swinney – said the approval of the projects would bring thousands of jobs and a boost for Scotland’s economy.
The SNP-led Scottish Government has shifted its stance on new oil and gas in recent years, with Nicola Sturgeon’s administration supporting a presumption against new drilling, which has since been watered down.
The current position would allow for new developments which pass “climate compatibility tests”, with the First Minister saying in the midst of this year’s election campaign those tests should include the benefits of domestic production compared to importation.
Despite positions staked by ministers in Edinburgh, the power over energy remains with the UK Government.
In a video posted on X, Mr Middleton – who was elected to the Aberdeen Central seat earlier this year – said: “I believe in three key things – supporting Scottish jobs, strengthening our country’s energy security and building the renewables industry that we are going to need in the future.
“Right now, Westminster is throwing North Sea workers on the scrapheap and Jackdaw and Rosebank would not only create thousands of Scottish jobs, it would be a massive boost to businesses and local economies the length and breadth of Scotland.”
The world, he added, is “in the most dangerous period of time that we’ve faced since the end of the Second World War”.
“While we still need oil and gas, we should be decreasing our reliance on countries in the Middle East and from friends of Vladimir Putin,” he said.
“Instead, I think we should be increasing use of our own domestic resources right here in the North Sea.
“Frankly, I think that’s one of our duties to our northern European allies.”
Use of domestically-produced oil and gas would reduce the need for carbon-intensive imports, the MSP added, while also creating “billions of pounds in tax revenue”, which should be “ring-fenced” and sent to Scotland to boost the renewables sector.
The MSP signed an open letter from the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, along with SNP MP Kirsty Blackman, which pushed for “timely and positive decisions on the consideration and consent of key North Sea developments, including Jackdaw and Rosebank”.
Seven Scottish Labour MPs have also lent their backing to the letter.
Mr Middleton’s announcement comes after his party lost the Aberdeen South by-election last month to the Scottish Tories in a vote which revolved heavily around the fate of the oil and gas sector.
Local SNP sources hit out at the party’s position on oil and gas as being the reason candidate Richard Thomson lost out to Tory Douglas Lumsden in the race for the seat previously held by former SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.
In a post on social media after the party had conceded defeat in the by-election, Mr Flynn said some would need to “reflect” on the result.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “While decisions on consenting for offshore oil and gas projects are reserved to the UK Government, ministers share Mr Middleton’s view that energy security and investment in Scotland’s energy sector is crucial, and that the UK Government must replace the energy profits levy with a fair system that protects jobs.
“They also agree that individual North Sea oil and gas projects, by law, must be assessed on a case-by-case basis for their climate compatibility.”
Scottish Tory energy spokesman Liam Kerr said: “Swinney’s former special adviser and new MSP (Mr Middleton) has clearly seen how his party’s reckless stance meant they were hammered in the Aberdeen South by-election and is now saying anything in a desperate bid to shore up support for the nationalists in the north east.
“But voters there and across Scotland won’t be fooled.”
