Scottish government set to soften opposition to North Sea drilling
Climate compatibility tests would remain as the SNP-led administration revises its energy strategy, two senior government members said.
Scotland’s SNP-led government is preparing to abandon its starting assumption against approving new North Sea oil and gas projects, according to two senior government members speaking anonymously about the unpublished plans.
The revised energy strategy would retain tests assessing whether projects fit the government’s climate targets. But it would remove the “presumption against” new fields included in the draft strategy published in 2023, one senior official said.
Delegates at the SNP conference in Aberdeen adopted a resolution favouring domestic oil and gas production over imports. The two people said that change to party policy would inform the government’s work on its energy strategy.
The shift comes as the UK government is widely expected to approve the Jackdaw gas field. A separate decision on the Rosebank oil field is expected later. Scotland’s government has limited authority over licences for such developments, although it can press the UK government to grant approval.
SNP politicians privately acknowledged at the conference that the party’s position on Jackdaw had cost it electoral support. The SNP lost a parliamentary by-election in Aberdeen during the summer to the pro-drilling Conservatives, with North Sea policy a prominent campaign issue.
