First Minister John Swinney and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have backed the Rosebank and Jackdaw projects in the North Sea.
Swinney said the Iran war "changes the balance of the arguments", while Reeves warned we must "take control of our own energy supplies here in Britain".
The FM made the comments at the Holyrood Sources podcast hustings at Hibernian's Easter Road stadium, highlighting the importance of energy security in the wake of the Middle East conflict and situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Swinney accepted that, while climate compatibility assessments must still be carried out, the test should involve a comparison between burning domestic and imported fuel, The Times reports.
He said: “That assessment on climate compatibility has to be undertaken. I think the thing that’s changed is the geopolitical situation that is surrounding us just now, and the huge volatility that we’re now dealing with.
“I can’t give you a definitive answer about Jackdaw and Rosebank because the climate compatibility assessment has got to be undertaken.
“But what I’m saying is that I think we’ve got to look at the geopolitical situation that we now face and recognise that we’re experiencing much greater risk to our energy security as a consequence of what’s happening there.”
The First Minister added: “Oil and gas is declining too fast, and renewables are not growing fast enough. So we’ve got to take that into account in the decisions that we make.
“We need oil and gas for the foreseeable future. The two risks about imported oil and gas is that you could be importing more climate damaging oil and gas, and you might not be able to import it because of disruption and interruption to supply, because of what’s going on in the Middle East right now. So I think that context changes the balance of the arguments.”
The comments mark a subtle but material shift in the SNP's recent attitude towards new oil and gas projects.
The Scottish government's draft energy strategy published in 2023, introduced a presumption against new oil and gas development.
Meanwhile Chancellor Rachel Reeves voiced her support for Rosebank and Jackdaw during an appearance on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2.
She said, The Times reports: “It would, of course, create jobs and tax revenue, and that is why we continue to support oil and gas for decades to come.
"We have now got the disruption in the Middle East and it’s hard to get the oil and gas out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is pushing up prices. It does show that we have got to take control of our own energy supplies here in Britain.”
She added she was "very happy” to back exploration at Rosebank oilfield and Jackdaw gasfield.