Statement: Energy Strategy

Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP): Can the minister confirm that it is the Government’s view that the proximity of north-east Scotland—and Peterhead in particular—to emptied oil basins creates not only a domestic opportunity for CO2 storage but an international opportunity to take other people’s CO2? In particular, given the engineering expertise in the north-east, has he had any positive indications of any kind that tomorrow’s budget might help to provide employment as well as address climate change?

The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism (Fergus Ewing): I have not heard from Mr Osborne any indications, positive or otherwise, but Mr Stevenson is absolutely right about the opportunity to use depleted oil and gas fields off the shores of Scotland, and indeed of England. That is an enormous opportunity for the environment and for the oil and gas industry. That is the case for the environment because—as the International Energy Agency has often said—in order to cut our emissions and meet climate change targets, carbon capture and storage is a necessity; it cannot be done without it. That makes the Greens’ refusal to support the policy somewhat astonishing.

On Mr Stevenson’s second point, the engineering expertise that was encompassed in the SSE-Shell partnership that was working on the CCS project, which the UK Government unilaterally and abruptly scrapped, was international. The people who were involved, whom I met on a half-day visit to Peterhead, were hugely looking forward to the project and there was a spring in their step. They were looking forward to Scotland and Britain leading the world, but all of that was scrapped in a moment in a short-sighted, venal decision by the UK Government.