Union asks UK Labour to drop North Sea exploration ban

UK union Unite, backed by 200 local businesses in Scotland, is calling on the opposition Labour party to abandon a planned policy to stop new fossil fuel exploration in the North Sea "until a plan to replace jobs is operational".

"UK Labour's current policy on net zero for the North Sea is to ban all new licences but currently, they have no detailed plan on a fair 'workers' transition to greener energy and to save 30,000 jobs in Scotland," the letter reads.

Labour in its manifesto outlined plans to stop issuing any new licences for oil, gas and coal, but said it will not revoke existing licences if elected in the 4 July general election. The party is far ahead in polling.

The letter warned that stopping oil and gas exploration in the North Sea could lead to importing more fossil fuel. Although most of the crude produced in the UK North Sea is exported, around half of UK gas demand is met by already-dwindling domestic fields.

Unite and the local businesses called for an additional £1.1bn/yr ($1.39bn/yr) in investments in wind power, manufacturing and operation, hydrogen, carbon capture and decommissioning. "That's just a fraction of the £36bn in profits oil companies made from the North Sea last year," it said.

"There is still absolutely no plan on wind power manufacture, in Scotland and the UK, or commensurate new 'green' jobs for North Sea workers," the letter said, asking for the creation of 35,000 new energy transition jobs in Scotland by 2030.

Delicate balance

Separately, more than 60 climate groups in a letter backed by Unite and other unions including the RMT today called on the incoming UK government for "a clear and funded transition plan for workers and communities reliant on the oil and gas industry."

"The longer we wait to implement a worker-led just transition in the North Sea — and other high carbon industries — the worse off communities that rely on these industries will be", the letter said, pointing to upcoming job losses at Chinese-UK venture Petroineos' 150,000 b/d Grangemouth refinery in Scotland and at Port Talbot Steelworks in Wales.

Since Petroineos announced last November that it would close Grangemouth, Unite has repeatedly criticised the Scottish and UK governments for failing to support workers and for "empty promises about the just transition".

The climate groups' letter called for a phase out of oil and gas in the North Sea as a "crucial step to meet the legally binding climate commitments, address the UK's historic role as a disproportionate producer of emissions".

"There are areas where the UK has to set an example," UK Labour shadow secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, David Lammy said on 25 June about his party's commitment to no new licences.Almost 200 countries agreed in December at the UN Cop 28 climate summit to transition away from fossil fuels, with developing nations urging richer countries to take the lead.

But for communities whose livelihood depends on the fossil fuel sector, the prospect of phasing out oil and gas is reminiscent of the UK coal industry's decline. Lammy noted the importance of the private sector in the energy transition.

"The handling of plans to close the Grangemouth refinery underlines the risk of omitting meaningful dialogue between communities, industry and government," the UK's Climate Change Commission (CCC) said in March, when pointing out that Scotland's 2030 climate goals were no longer credible.

By Caroline Varin and Victoria Hatherick