BBC’s Countryfile spoke to oil and gas industry representatives and campaigners as it examined how the sector – and the wider north-east region – is responding to the UK’s energy transition.
Drawing on the theme of “rural power”, the latest episode of the long-running rural affairs series saw correspondents visit the north-east to host a wide-ranging discussion that touched on windfall taxes, new North Sea licensing and the renewables sector.
A big part of what I do is about transition and how we make the next step. This city, and this area has got so much to offer.”
Emily Taylor, North Sea Transition Deal programme manager, OEUK.
Presenter Tom Heap met Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) boss Deirdre Michie, as well as representatives from Just Stop Oil, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and RenewableUK, in an attempt to examine the present and future of the region.
Interviewed against the backdrop of the North Sea Memorial Gardens in Hazlehead Park, Aberdeen, OEUK North Sea Transition Deal programme manager Emily Taylor spoke about growing up in the region, and how the energy sector is “the backbone” of the local area.
She explained there are “huge impacts” on the local community when oil prices crash, and noted that when people lose their jobs and income the knock-on effects can ripple through the economy.
“Over 100,000 people work offshore up here, it’s such a big part of who we are,” she told Mr Heap.
She added: “I wanted to be part of an energy which was buzzing, that was exciting.
“A big part of what I do is about transition and how we make the next step.
“This city, and this area has got so much to offer, so we need that continuous investment.
“We need that vote of confidence in what we’re doing up here, because what we’re doing is changing the way we energise the country.”
Continued investment in oil and gas ‘essential’
Ms Michie – speaking on a boat in the Moray Firth – said continued investment in North Sea oil and gas was essential to ensuring secure energy supplies for the UK.
But she admitted new drilling will do nothing to bring down bills for UK households.
Additional taxes raised through windfall measures could be used to help consumers, she said.
Mr Heap highlighted generous investment incentives introduced as part of the UK Government’s energy profits levy, or windfall tax.
These mean some operators paid no additional tax last quarter, with Shell, for example, avoiding it because of sizable investments in new projects like the Jackdaw gasfield.
Just Stop Oil’s Emma Brown was clear why her campaign group is calling for an end to new oil and gas.
“Not only is it driving a horse and cart through any kind of climate action, it’s also sending a terrible message out to all of the other countries in the world that they can continue their exploration and burning of fossil fuels,” Ms Brown told the programme.
North-east and energy forever tied
RenewableUK’s director of future electricity systems, Barney Wharton, said there were no comparable investment incentives that could be used by those developing new renewables schemes – unless they were being built to power offshore oil and gas platforms.
The people and fortunes of the north-east will remain “closely tied” to the UK’s energy outlook, Mr Heap concluded.