A leading figure in the energy industry is warning that, if no further investment is made in the UK North Sea, the country will produce less than a third of the oil and gas it needs in just five years.
This worrying scenario is highlighted by Sam Laidlaw, executive chairman of Neptune Energy, which has an operational base in Aberdeen.
Neptune’s interests include operating the Cygnus Alpha and Cygnus Bravo facilities in the southern North Sea which produce gas from the Cygnus field - the UK's largest single producing gas field, with the capability to supply energy to the equivalent of 1.5million homes.
Mr Laidlaw writes in the Telegraph: "Security matters. Never has that been more apparent in our lifetime than now, as we watch the appalling scenes in Ukraine unfold before our eyes.
"Not only does this matter for defence and sovereignty, but also for the resilience of our energy supply.
"The UK is fortunate to have a relatively diverse set of energy supply options, which help us avoid severe disruptions. Russia, for example, directly supplies only around 4% of our gas.
"But the price for oil and gas is set by global markets, and we can't avoid the effects of spiralling energy costs. This also damages our energy security, with particularly dire impacts on the most-vulnerable people in our society.
"We cannot take energy security for granted. If no further investment is made in the UK North Sea, by 2027 the UK will produce less than a third of its oil and gas demands - increasing reliance on more carbon intensive imports and increasing the risk of further supply and price spikes."
Mr Laidlaw says that, while the symptoms of the current energy squeeze are a result of current market conditions, the cause can be traced back to a failure over decades of energy policy by successive Governments that have resulted in historic under-investment in infrastructure, including in sufficient-gas storage facilities.
He goes on: "This is why North Sea energy companies have proposed to Government a 10-point plan, which aims to build on the North Sea Transition Deal and provide greater investment clarity for continued development and production as well as for carbon capture and hydrogen project opportunities.
"The plan seeks to achieve three crucial objectives: to maximise the national benefits of the UK's domestic gas and oil reserves; to reduce emissions from the sector; and to increase the sector's contribution to achieving net zero.
Supporting secure homegrown energy will require the Government to provide a stable investment regime for the sector that helps deliver new secure domestic energy supplies to reduce emissions and costs associated with more carbon intensive, expensive imports. This includes Government commitment to support continued investment in, and access to, capital for the sector both now and in the future.
"In the short term, the Government should change gas specification levels that would simply, and at no cost, deliver more gas today. If it were to adjust these levels to those in other European countries, it would enable additional quantities of gas to flow that have already been developed.
"By way of example, had this change been introduced last year, it would have enabled an additional 13bn cubic feet of gas to be produced from the Neptune-operated Cygnus field alone - around 17% more than actual produced volumes.
"Longer term, investment in infrastructure will also bring forward integration of lower carbon energy systems by developing hubs, enabling faster electrification of as many viable new and existing production assets as possible by 2035.
"But investors will only commit capital if Government commits to a stable, predictable, competitive oil and gas tax regime - one that enables companies to plan their long-term approach to the net zero transition confidently across the full field life, including decommissioning."
A spokesperson for the UK's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told the Telegraph: "We continue to explore various options to further bolster the UK's energy security, and will shortly set out an energy security strategy to supercharge our renewable energy and nuclear capacity, while supporting our North Sea oil and gas industry."
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that Boris Johnson is expected to hold crunch talks with senior cabinet ministers this week to resolve fractious talks over plans to tackle rising bills and boost the country's energy security.
It adds that the Government's energy strategy has been delayed by Cabinet splits over onshore wind, funding for nuclear energy and the role fracking should play, given spiralling energy prices and the Ukraine invasion.