Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has launched a review of the North Sea oil and gas industry, headed by Sir Ian Wood.
In the Financial Times, Ed Davey is quoted as saying:
I expect it to say tough things to industry, as well as be supportive, and say tough things to government as well. Our offshore infrastructure is getting older, and we are seeing a decline in the rate of exploration and in the amount of oil and gas that is being recovered.
Whilst the main thrust of the review will be to maximise production, he adds:
There is no inconsistency between hitting climate change targets and maximising the exploitation of our own resources – otherwise we’d be importing with a loss to the economy.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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2 Comments
Will its remit include working out how the North Sea fields would be divided between an independent Scotland and the continuing UK?
@Ian Sanderson — If it came to that, which it won’t, anything a commission could say would be superseded by the “disunion treaty” between the two states. It’s probably best not to come up with preemptive answers based on the remotest of contingencies.