Future of the North Sea Oil and Gas Industry

That the Parliament believes that low oil prices and COVID-19 pose an existential threat to the North Sea oil and gas industry; notes the Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG) of trade unions’ estimate that 3,500 jobs in the supply chain are at immediate risk, with over 1,000 redundancy notices in the drilling sector alone; believes that furlough schemes are an uneven and temporary measure for offshore workers that will not solve deeper, structural problems in the sector, while recognising that they can assist workers who would otherwise face redundancy in the short term; notes the employers’ estimate that 30,000 industry jobs could  be lost by autumn 2021; believes that offshore oil and gas supported over 101,000 jobs across the supply chain and £16.2 billion GVA  to Scotland’s economy in 2018; calls on oil and gas operators to show leadership by not making dividend payments to shareholders in the midst of the current crisis; welcomes the formation of the Pandemic Steering Group, which includes employers, regulators and OCG unions; believes that a Just Transition to net-zero carbon is impossible for Scotland’s offshore workers if domestic oil and gas reserves are shut down before 2030; notes that the oil and gas reserves under the North Sea are publicly owned, and calls on the Scottish Government to continue working with the OCG trade unions to demand measures from industry and the UK Government that protect Scottish jobs and skills, production, investment, decommissioning and tax revenue from this strategically vital industry.