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<\/p>\nThere was a time when exploiting oil and gas fields in the North Sea was welcomed by the public, politicians and industry.<\/p>\n
It was the oil boom of the 1980s, after all, that funded Britain\u2019s economic boom and raised the standard of living of millions of Brits.<\/p>\n
But yesterday\u2019s announcement that regulators have given the go-ahead for up to 300million barrels of oil to be extracted from the Rosebank field, 80 miles to the north-west of Shetland, has infuriated campaigners and divided political leaders.<\/p>\n
The decision was \u2018morally obscene\u2019, according to the UK\u2019s only Green MP, Caroline Lucas, whereas Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that it would help bring \u2018stability\u2019 to the economy.<\/p>\n
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Regulators have given the go-ahead for up to 300million barrels of oil to be extracted from the Rosebank field, 80 miles to the northwest of Shetland<\/p>\n
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First Minister Humza Yousaf, is against the decision to extract oil and gas from Rosebank<\/p>\n
While Labour opposes new oil field exploration, Mr Starmer has vowed not to revoke any licences issued this side of the General Election.<\/p>\n
First Minister Humza Yousaf, whose party once campaigned for independence under the slogan \u2018It\u2019s Scotland\u2019s Oil\u2019, has expressed disappointment at the decision to grant Rosebank a licence and is concerned that the oil produced would end up being used in overseas markets instead of domestically.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still Scotland\u2019s oil but neither Scotland nor anyone else should have it, it seems.<\/p>\n
But UK Government ministers insist that allowing the field to be exploited will benefit the economy \u2013 particularly in Scotland \u2013 while maintaining the country\u2019s commitments to net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n
Rosebank could also spell a jobs bonanza, with an estimated 1,600 new jobs created during peak exploration.<\/p>\n
And in an era where the West has become over-dependent on Russian oil, what objections can seriously be raised about a new domestic source of \u2018black gold\u2019?<\/p>\n
Already environmental groups are threatening to mount a legal challenge to the decision to grant this new licence. But the transition from oil and gas to new, renewable forms of energy less damaging to the climate was never going to be swift or easy.<\/p>\n
Society has grown dependent on oil \u2013 as well as the plastic that is produced from it \u2013 over centuries, and however determined and sincere politicians\u2019 aspirations to wean us from our addiction are, the road was never going to be a smooth one.<\/p>\n
Populist (and unpopular) protest movements like Extinction Rebellion have dominated headlines in the past few years with their campaigns of civil disobedience in an attempt to do what the ballot box has failed to do \u2013 persuade politicians to comply with their demands that we stop using all oil and gas immediately.<\/p>\n
To these impatient young idealists, with their numerous gadgets and lifestyles that are completely dependent on oil-based technologies (where do they think the plastic components in their expensive iPhones come from?), action must happen now, without delay \u2013 any other course of action will mean the early, grotesque and painful death of everyone on the planet.<\/p>\n
There has been no shortage of MPs and MSPs who are willing to worship at the altar of Greta Thunberg and to take to heart her warnings of Biblical apocalypse unless we change our ways.<\/p>\n
But most of our political and industrial leaders recognise that while the aim of net zero is one that we \u2013 and the rest of the developed world \u2013 must meet, doing so too quickly without proper preparation would be as disastrous as doing nothing at all.<\/p>\n
Claire Coutinho, the Energy Security Secretary, said yesterday: \u2018As the independent Climate Change Committee recognise, we will need oil and gas as part of that mix on the path to net zero and so it makes sense to use our own supplies from North Sea fields such as Rosebank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We will continue to back the UK\u2019s oil and gas industry to underpin our energy security, grow our economy and help us deliver the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy.\u2019<\/p>\n
Contrary to the faintly hysterical reaction that the announcement of the new licence has provoked, this is not all about lining the pockets of greedy business leaders and millionaire oil barons.<\/p>\n
The companies that own the rights to Rosebank \u2013 the Norwegian energy giant Equinor and British company Ithaca Energy \u2013 will have to hand over 75 per cent of their profits from the field to His Majesty\u2019s Treasury every year until 2028.<\/p>\n
That includes a 40 per cent rate of corporation tax \u2013 much higher than the standard 25 per cent rate that most UK businesses pay.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s after the Government imposed a 35 per cent windfall tax on the oil and gas sector in 2022 as firms made huge profits following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
So while fashionable critics of the oil industry and the wealth and jobs it creates complain about this new licence, there will be precious little complaint about the extra money that will be made available to the Government as a result of this decision \u2013 money that will be used to fund the NHS, pensions, benefits and a range of government spending.<\/p>\n
Neither is Rosebank such a large field that its exploitation is likely to have a catastrophic impact on existing CO2 levels. It is small by global standards, even when compared with previous developments in UK waters.<\/p>\n
It is only a tenth of the size of Britain\u2019s biggest ever oil field, Brent, and will produce only 8,400 tons of oil a day at its peak \u2013 about 5 per cent of the UK\u2019s daily oil usage \u2013 and only about 0.7 per cent of the amount of gas the UK uses daily.<\/p>\n
Condemnation of the Rosebank decision and regular demands that Britain cease immediately to use oil in all its forms risk being taken less seriously because of the inevitability and the frequency of their repetition.<\/p>\n
While the arrival of Rosebank oil and gas on the market is unlikely to result in large cuts to British energy bills, neither will it herald the end of life as we know it.<\/p>\n
The task facing all developed countries is not to reinvent their economies and transform society out of all recognition \u2013 that is the demand of neo-Marxists who see climate change as no more than the latest, most convenient tool with which to attack capitalism \u2013 but to manage the smooth, gradual and decisive transition to an economy that is no longer dependent on oil.<\/p>\n
A mad headlong rush to net zero in the next few years would have a cataclysmic impact on our standard of living. We are nowhere near the point where we can rely for all our energy needs on windmills and solar panels.<\/p>\n
That day may one day come \u2013 we can but hope \u2013 but in the meantime, if we are to maintain wages, our local and national services and generate enough tax to run the country, oil will have to play a vital role.<\/p>\n
We are regularly promised that the green industrial revolution in the near future will replace all those dirty, polluting oil-based jobs with new, clean and better paid ones.<\/p>\n
Again, that is a worthy aspiration, but there is precious little evidence that such jobs and the level of investment needed to make them a reality are anything other than a pipe dream yet.<\/p>\n
What Scotland and the rest of the country needs are real, actual jobs based on established industries with a track record of generating investment in our economy.<\/p>\n
Welcoming the Rosebank oil and gas field does not mean betraying the planet or the next generation; it means that we will be better prepared for the transition to a green economy at the right time.<\/p>\n