SNP calls for ‘decisive action’ as BP reveals plan to sell North Sea operations

Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift, said: “It’s hard to take seriously the criticisms of parties that oversaw a decade of decline in the North Sea and who failed to create a coherent plan to reindustrialise the region.

“BP’s exit underscores the geological fact that this is now an ultra-mature basin that has been in decline for years – the number of jobs supported by the industry has more than halved in the past decade, despite the previous Conservative government issuing hundreds of new licences in that time.

“In all that time, the efforts of both Westminster and Holyrood to transition workers have been wholly inadequate.

“Oil companies make decisions based on the interests of their shareholders. With around 93 per cent of the ageing North Sea’s recoverable reserves already extracted, BP has logically decided there’s more money to be made elsewhere.

“For politicians to pretend that oil and gas is now a path to growth and secure jobs is a denial of these facts and a betrayal of workers.

“More drilling isn’t a jobs strategy. Nor will it take a penny off bills or make a meaningful difference to energy security – most of what’s left in the basin is oil, the vast majority of which is exported.

“The Labour government must not cave in to the demands of an oil industry seeking to squeeze every last bit of profit from the North Sea before heading for the exit.

“Genuine reindustrialisation requires the UK and Scottish governments to work together and step in with a coherent plan and public investment in new industries, like wind manufacturing, that will provide good jobs and power the UK for decades to come.

“If BP’s exit tells us anything, it’s that oil companies will always prioritise the needs of shareholders and walk away from workers and communities without a second thought.”