BILLIONAIRE industrialist Sir Ian Wood has criticised politicians who have failed to support the Cambo oil and gas development, with a warning that it may lead to an “adverse investment environment” with thousands of jobs on the line.
In the wake of Shell’s decision to pull out of the controversial West Shetland development, Sir Ian Wood, Chairman of ETZ Ltd, said:
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“I urge politicians to reflect carefully on their public statements on oil and gas and the impact they have on investment in the industry. We must not create an adverse investment environment at this crucial moment in our energy transition journey. The future prosperity of our region and the country’s ability to meet net zero, depends on it.”
He added: “Shell’s decision is disappointing. However, we welcome Siccar Point’s continued commitment to the development and the very good reasons they have given as to why it must go ahead. We fervently hope that it does as it will create thousands of jobs across the North East of Scotland both directly and across our supply chain and make a significant contribution to meeting our energy requirements. “
“It has been made patently clear for some time we cannot put ourselves in the position of reducing domestic production only to increase carbon heavy imports from overseas. This would be entirely counter productive, both environmentally and economically.”
“The skills, experience and infrastructure of a world class oil and gas industry will play a crucial role in accelerating energy transition and meeting net zero. We must support the industry in meeting this ambition and it is essential the Scottish and UK Governments do too.”
Siccar Point Energy, together with Shell, have already carried out months of due diligence and assurance work, along with stakeholder and regulatory consultation.
In a statement, Siccar Point’s chief executive Jonathan Roger said: “”Cambo remains critical to the UK’s energy security and economy. Whilst we are disappointed at Shell’s change of position, we remain confident about the qualities of a project that will not only create over 1,000 direct jobs as well as thousands more in the supply chain, but also help ease the UK’s transition to a low carbon future through responsibly produced domestic oil instead of becoming even more dependent on imports, with a relatively higher carbon intensity. “
“We will continue to engage with the UK Government and wider stakeholders on the future development of Cambo.”
