Nicola Sturgeon urges SNP not to shift position on North Sea oil and gas
It comes after John Swinney signalled a major change in the party’s stance
Nicola Sturgeon has urged her party not to shift its position on North Sea oil and gas, arguing it is not right "to just drill for more and more fossil fuels".
The former first minister said investment should instead go towards the "renewable technologies of the future".
Earlier this year, John Swinney signalled a major change in the SNP's position due to the "huge volatility" caused by the war in Iran.
He said the disruption in the Middle East had altered the "dynamics" of the debate around developments such as Rosebank and Jackdaw.
The comments marked a clear departure from the position taken by his predecessors, Ms Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
Speaking during an appearance at Iain Dale's All Talk show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the former first minister restated her opposition to new drilling.
"The SNP hasn't changed its position on oil and gas since I was first minister," she said, in response to a question from Mr Dale.
"I mean, yeah, I think some of the language is a bit different, but formally - unless I've missed something - I think it's position hasn't changed."
She added: "If I make a point at all that is relevant to my own party as much as it's relevant to anybody else, it's stand up for what you believe in.
"North Sea oil and gas - I think the people who are most let down by continuing to drill more and more oil and gas, apart from the next generation because of the climate crisis, are current North Sea oil and gas workers.
"Because it's a declining basin - climate emergency aside, it's not going to be there forever.
"If we don't start to really develop the renewable jobs that are the alternative then we're going to leave these workers stranded.
"I grew up in a former mining community - I saw what happened when deindustrialisation was not managed properly.
"I don't think it's right to just drill for more and more fossil fuels.
"More oil and gas out of the North Sea - this is one of the fallacies - would not lower bills in the UK by a single penny because of the way most of the oil is exported because we don't refine that kind of oil here, and the gas is traded on a European market.
"The quantities coming out of the North Sea would not be sufficient to influence the price.
"Instead of spending money on diminishing supplies of oil and gas, let's invest more and more on the renewable technologies of the future."
Decisions over North Sea licensing are reserved to the UK government, but the SNP has called for power over energy to be transferred to Holyrood.
In 2023, Ms Sturgeon said she agreed with former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas that the Rosebank oil development would be “the greatest act of environmental vandalism in my lifetime”.
Speaking to Mr Dale, she ruled out joining the Scottish Greens as she proclaimed herself “SNP to my core”.
“I am not joining any other party,” she said. “I will never be a member of any other party – ever.”
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.