The first minister has criticised the awarding of new North Sea oil and gas licences as the “wrong move” despite trying to establish his credentials as a business-friendly leader.
Humza Yousaf said he was a “big supporter” of the Scottish energy sector but favours a transition to renewables.
Environmentalists have described the new licences as “despicable” but industry groups said they were crucial for energy security and reducing reliance on imports.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), the industry regulator, has offered an initial 27 licences through the 33rd offshore licensing round.
The results of dozens more applications are likely to be made public in the next few months.
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Yousaf has been trying to win over corporate Scotland by promising them a “new deal” and greater collaboration with his government than with Nicola Sturgeon’s regime.
Splits in the SNP over oil and gas drilling have been widening since Sturgeon declared she would not support development of the Rosebank oil field prior to the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow in 2021.
• What is the Rosebank oilfield and why is it so controversial?
Many in the party, particularly those representing communities in the northeast, feel the North Sea should be utilised for as long as possible given its importance to the Scottish economy, arguing that oil and gas are vital to underpin the transition to a low-carbon future.
On the new licences, Yousaf said: “I think it’s the wrong move, particularly given the extreme threat of the climate crisis that we’re facing, and we’re seeing the impacts of in this country, let alone right across the world.
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“I’m a big supporter, of course, of our gas industry and the workers who work in it. But I’m equally a supporter of transitioning towards renewables. And I believe that the northeast [of Scotland] in particular, could transition from the oil and gas capital of Europe to being the renewables capital, and net-zero capital of Europe.”
The bulk of the new extraction areas unveiled on Monday lie close to existing infrastructure and 13 of them are already at the stage where they do not require additional drilling so could be developed relatively quickly.
Offshore Energies UK, a trade body, suggested it would be typical for projects in that category to move into production in four to six years.
That would mean most should be able to avoid a significant burden from the UK government’s energy profit levy, which will impose a tax of up to 75 per cent on UK profits of oil and gas companies and is due to end in early 2028.
Caroline Rance, from Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “Handing out new oil licences is a despicable decision from the UK government because ministers know that new fossil fuels will lead to even greater death and destruction from climate breakdown.”
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Offshore Energies said about two thirds of the UK’s North Sea fields, some 180 out of 284, are due to be depleted by 2030.
The UK already imports about 25 per cent of its oil and gas requirements as domestic demand outstrips production.
The trade body warned that unless there was continued investment in the North Sea fields the UK would have to rely on imports for 80 per cent of its oil and gas by 2030.
Labour has indicated it will bring in a ban on new North Sea exploration if it wins power in the next general election.
Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian chamber of commerce, said that about 90,000 jobs in Scotland were supported by oil and gas activity.
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He said: “UK oil production fell to an all-time low of 38 million tonnes in 2022, and it will plummet to 22 million tonnes in 2030 unless new wells are drilled.
“Where the alternative is importing oil or gas at a greater carbon cost, then we must favour domestic production.
“It’s better for jobs, it’s better for our economy, and it commits us to sourcing the fossil fuels we need in a manner which minimises emissions and secures tens of thousands of Scottish jobs.”
