The UK Government faced a furious backlash in the Commons yesterday over what Conservatives branded a “manufactured decline” in the North Sea oil and gas sector.
An emergency debate on the future of the North Sea was held yesterday afternoon after the holding company of Petrofac - one of Aberdeen’s biggest employers - entered administration.
Michael Shanks, the energy minister, insisted “the North sea will be at the heart of Britain’s energy future” and stressed that Petrofac’s UK arm “has not entered administration and is continuing to operate as normal”.
He told MPs the company’s collapse was the result of “long-standing global issues” rather than government policy, adding that “all the signs are that there is a viable long-term future for the company”.
But Andrew Bowie, the Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, accused Labour of creating a “hostile environment” for the sector.
“Another week and yet another hammer blow to our North sea oil and gas industry, another gut punch to energy workers and another blow to our energy security,” he said.
“These are political choices. This is a manufactured decline.”
Shanks shot back that the Conservatives had “lost over a third of the jobs in the North sea” while in government and accused them of “talking down” Petrofac at a critical moment.
“All of us across the House have a responsibility to support the company… not to undermine it,” he said.
The Liberal Democrats urged a “genuinely just transition”, with Pippa Heylings warning that “job creation is not happening fast enough to keep up with job losses in the North sea”.
The SNP’s Stephen Flynn accused ministers of “turning their backs” on Aberdeen and demanded Shanks visit the city to explain “when he is going to listen to the trade unions, the academics, the workers and the industry”.
Shanks insisted the government was “building the industries of the future” — from carbon capture to hydrogen and offshore wind — and repeated that Labour would “support existing licences for their lifetime”.