CEN's new report, Securing Scotland's future: a conservative plan for a responsible energy transition, offers a realistic vision for the future of the North Sea, one that ensures Scotland’s energy security and protects workers’ livelihoods.

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One thousand jobs a month are being lost from the oil and gas sector in Scotland. These are hard-working people with skills we need for the energy transition, yet many are going to work abroad instead. Declining production is inevitable in a mature, expensive basin like the North Sea, but poor policy choices have exacerbated the crisis facing the industry.

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For too long, Reform, the SNP, and Labour have treated North Sea oil and gas as a political football. This report cuts through the political posturing. It rejects Labour’s windfall tax, which is accelerating the decline, and the SNP’s ineffective and statist ‘just transition’ subsidy schemes, whilst calling out Reform’s failure to plan for the long-term future of Scotland’s energy sector. 

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Our paper outlines several policy options to protect Scottish jobs, generate more homegrown energy, and grow the economy:

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• Strengthen the energy skills passport to automatically recognise the qualifications of oil and gas workers across the energy sector, making it easier for them to find new work and reducing the burden on them to complete expensive new training.

• Equip young people with the skills they need for careers in the energy sector by reorienting education funding towards STEM teaching and apprenticeships. 

• Unleash new energy investment in Scotland by lifting the irrational ban on new nuclear, removing planning barriers for geothermal heat networks, and creating new low tax Energy Transition Zones. 

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If you agree that Scotland deserves better and we need a credible plan for the North Sea, show your support on social media: