Scottish government pulls hydrocarbons support

GLASGOW, October 26, 2021 – The Scottish government has announced it will no longer be supporting the unlimited recovery of its oil and gas assets, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced in a speech to students at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

Sturgeon called for less emphasis on oil and gas to support the economy and more focus on transitioning to renewables in the energy mix.

She added that pumping production of oil and gas was no longer economically sustainable in the long term.

Scotland’s oil and gas industry employs tens of thousands of workers, and the transition is expected to be difficult.

“The more we tell ourselves we will always have oil and gas as a safety net, the less motivated we will be to speed up the development of the alternatives, to train people for new jobs in emerging technologies, and to deliver the just transition we and the world needs,” Sturgeon said.

It was also announced that Scotland would publish a new energy strategy in 2022.

The declaration comes before the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow starting on October 31, 2021.