The Conservatives will today force a House of Commons vote on ending the UK Government’s ban on new North Sea oil and gas projects, alongside proposals to scrap the windfall tax and approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields.
The opposition day motion is not binding, meaning Labour MPs may be instructed not to support it, although some could rebel amid growing pressure within the party.
Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie said: “Recent global events have underlined the importance of meeting our own domestic oil and gas needs.
“We should not be importing what we can provide ourselves, with homegrown expertise and at lesser cost to the environment.
“Labour and Keir Starmer started this year as net zero zealots but every day they look more and more out of touch with Britain’s priorities.
“They should be giving their full-throated backing to our industry alongside the SNP, Lib Dems and others, who have all been guilty of trying to shut oil and gas down in recent years. At best, the SNP have adopted a form of fence-sitting in Aberdeen alone."
Labour backbencher Henry Tufnell has also broken ranks, arguing: “Britain needs greater energy sovereignty. In the face of further geo-political turmoil now is the time to alter our approach to energy.
“Drilling in the North Sea and scrapping carbon taxes on British manufacturing would kickstart economic growth, tackle unemployment as well as prevent further deindustrialisation.
“Offshoring our carbon emissions might give some a sense of moral superiority and relief from guilt but the fight against climate change is global.
“Importing oil and gas from facilities that are less carbon-efficient and require long-distance shipping is simply displacing the problem elsewhere and impoverishing our communities.”
The vote comes as Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) warned the UK must urgently increase domestic production amid global instability, highlighting that North Sea gas has a lower emissions footprint than imported LNG.
OEUK’s Enrique Cornejo said: “We are continuing to support the development of renewable energies, we think that’s important.
“However, our position remains the same; for as long as the UK needs oil and gas, it makes sense to produce as much of that here.”
He added: “Our position is, obviously, climate change is important, and what we’re setting out here is that there is a pathway to meet climate targets that makes a responsible use of our homegrown resources, and that also ensures that we do not offshore those emissions to other countries.
“Because of how accounting of carbon emissions works for every country, it would be very easy for us to just say we will not produce our energy in the UK, or we will not produce our steel in the UK, and we’re just pushing that problem elsewhere.”
The UK Government is currently considering whether to approve the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments.
Energy minister Michael Shanks said: “Our priority is securing the clean energy future that will protect households and businesses from the volatility of global fossil fuel markets we can never control.
“The Tories had 14 years to deliver a managed transition in the North Sea and failed, with a third of the workforce lost on their watch without any plan for what comes next.
“We’re determined to deliver a fair and prosperous transition, energy security for the long-term and fight for families across the country to keep bills down”.