Do we need to stop drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea?

The Scottish Government has published new climate targets. For The Huddle, we asked our panel of experts for their take on the continued extraction of oil & gas in the seas around our coastline.

Professor Paul de Leeuw, director, Energy Transition Institute, Robert Gordon University:
The North Sea is a national treasure. Maintaining responsible oil and gas production is essential to energy resilience and bridging the gap until offshore renewables reach critical scale. The UK’s offshore sector supports over 154,000 direct and indirect skilled jobs, as well as a world-class supply chain that serves the oil and gas industry and the emerging renewables sector. Every drop and molecule responsibly produced domestically strengthens the economy, sustains jobs, boosts tax revenues, and helps fund the energy transition itself.

Cutting production prematurely would not curb demand. It would simply increase imports, often with larger associated emissions. This will undermine both climate goals and economic resilience. A ‘managed’ decline of North Sea oil and gas, rather than an ‘accelerated’ decline, offers the UK a pragmatic path to a lower-carbon future, sustains vital capabilities, and ensures a just, fair, and coordinated transition.

Executed well, it will ensure the North Sea remains a world-class energy powerhouse for decades to come.

Becky Kenton-Lake, coalition manager, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland:
Oil and gas jobs are going already as a result of geology, not decarbonisation or politics. North Sea output peaked in the late 20th century and almost halved between 1999 and 2007.
Even if climate change wasn’t a real and existential threat to humanity, oil and gas jobs will disappear. The choice is between a just transition away from fossil fuels and the kind of market-led mismanaged chaos so many other industries have suffered. 

If the tax system was to favour sectors which will be viable forever – renewables – and the energy system reformed so cheap and abundant wind sets the price, not expensive gas, this transition would be much easier.

Drilling new wells as if the resource isn’t almost all gone is dishonest, offering false promises for workers in the sector and household billpayers. We cannot afford to waste more time and money scraping the bottom of this particular barrel.

Kirstie Langan, global business development director, engineering consultants PDi:
Working in the North Sea engineering and project delivery space, I see every day how vital this industry still is – not just for energy security, but for the UK economy. As a passionate advocate for a responsible, skills-led energy transition, I urge everyone to acknowledge that around three-quarters of our total energy still comes from oil and gas, and we already import about 44 per cent of what we use. If we stop producing here, we’ll rely even more on liquiefied natural gas, which has roughly two to four times the lifecycle emissions of UK gas.  

A clear successor to the Energy Profits Levy can’t come soon enough. The current uncertainty has frozen investment and delayed billions of pounds of value. Other countries, like New Zealand, are rethinking their approach and reopening exploration to protect jobs and skills. Oil and gas production supports over 200,000 jobs in the UK, of which around 84,000 are in Scotland. This expertise is what we’ll depend on for safe and efficient decommissioning and for the next generation of low-carbon projects. Turning our back on that doesn’t speed up the transition, it slows it down.”

Professor Peter Jackson, chair in global security, University of Glasgow:
There are, without question, serious arguments for ceasing drilling for oil in the North Sea. New drilling operations are inconsistent with efforts to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. They would fly in the face of commitments to meet net zero objectives by both the Westminster and Holyrood governments. Whatever the Trump administration might say, fossil fuels are not the way of the future if we have any desire to mitigate the environmental mess we have created for our children and grandchildren to sort out.

At the same time, there are powerful economic and security arguments for a measured approach to scaling back North Sea drilling. The oil and gas sector remains an important employer and source of investment for the north east of Scotland. It is also a vital source of tax revenue. And demand for oil and gas from international markets will not wane any time soon. Moreover, domestic drilling provides a means to mitigate the UK’s dependence on global energy markets. This is an important consideration given the alarming instability in world politics that seems sure to continue for the foreseeable future.

Lorraine Currie, chief executive of Sciaf :
Yes – we urgently need to stop drilling for new oil and gas in Scotland and instead invest fully in a rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels. This is best for people in Scotland, best for communities in the countries where Sciaf works around the world, and best for future generations.

Communities in the countries where Sciaf works are already reeling from the impacts of climate change – from floods and droughts to increasingly ferocious storms and extreme weather that have destroyed homes, schools, hospitals, crops, livelihoods and lives, trapping people in poverty.

The science is unequivocal, and so too is the moral case. Those with the lowest carbon footprints are suffering first and worst from this crisis.

It is essential that we take the long view, put people and the planet first, and stick to our global commitments under the Paris Agreement to transition away from fossil fuels in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader:
Scotland, and the whole United Kingdom, faces a growing oil and gas emergency thanks to Labour’s inability to put our national interest first. By the end of Labour’s first term in office, it’s not inconceivable that Scotland’s oil and gas sector will be at serious risk, with domestic production currently set to halve by 2030. That would be a shocking indictment of Labour’s energy policy, and a dangerous act of economic self-sabotage. Enough is enough. Keir Starmer must find the backbone to ditch Ed Miliband’s net zero fanaticism, which is forcing up bills and driving away industry.

Professor Tahseen Jafry, director, Centre for Climate Justice, Glasgow Caledonian University:
This isn’t just a question about global warming, the climate crisis, or meeting Paris targets. It’s about markets, trade deals and global power relations − being market driven, politically charged and deeply rooted in geopolitical influence. If we keep drilling, who benefits? Most of that oil and gas will still be sold on global markets, so there’s little gain in energy security or lower bills.

Yet stopping production forces us to confront the renewable transition − one equally dependent on extractive industries for lithium, cobalt and copper, often at the expense of communities in the global south.

We risk swapping one kind of exploitation for another. The real challenge isn’t whether we stop drilling, but whether we can build an energy system that values justice as much as security − one that keeps both people and the planet in the equation.

Professor Karen Turner, director, Centre for Energy Policy, University of Strathclyde:
Decisions around drilling in the North Sea need to be made in the context of many factors. We project that 120,840 direct and supply jobs are at risk from oil and gas decline. Our research in Shetland reflects the fact that the decline in oil and gas is already happening and that real challenges exist in effectively managing the dynamics of the transition to low carbon activity.

Low-carbon energy industries and UK supply chains need to come online at a pace with the transition in oil and gas to avoid further pressure on cost of living and doing business. But, crucially, over 100,000 jobs are at risk with replacement industry not yet fully up and running. Rather than halting activity, coordinated workforce and transition planning are essential to manage North Sea industries in a way that is fair for workers and communities, and utilises existing skills and infrastructure capacity.

David Whitehouse, chief executive, Offshore Energies UK:
The choice is clear – do we prioritise our homegrown energy or choose to sacrifice our jobs to rely on imports?

While we use oil and gas, let us produce it here in the UK responsibly, alongside an accelerated rollout of renewables. In a country importing 40 per cent of its energy needs, we need both.