Evidence session in Aberdeen: The future of UK oil & gas
This week the ESNZ Committee travels to Aberdeen to hear directly from the community, workers and business stakeholders about their experience of the UK’s energy transition in the North Sea.
The oil and gas industry added £25 billion to the UK economy in 2023, with Scotland's industry accounting for £14 billion of that, or 56%. The industry supports an estimated 115,000–120,000 direct and indirect jobs across the UK, of which 66,000 are based in Scotland, mostly in the North East. Nearly one in 30 of Scotland's working population is employed in or supports the offshore energy industry, compared to a UK-wide figure of about one in 220.
Go to Scotland's North-East and that rises to one in every six workers employed in or supporting the offshore energy industry. Add on jobs created by workers spending their money in the local economy, known as induced jobs, and it’s nearly one in four people whose jobs depend on the existing offshore energy industry.
Through a Chamber of Commerce round table and a public evidence session at Robert Gordon University, the MPs will seek to assess of the impact of the fossil fuel and low carbon energy sectors on Aberdeen's economy, communities and workers now.
Meeting details
What is changing as the Government begins to enact its North Sea Future Plan, published last November, and what do local stakeholders think of the process and communication so far?
What is required, and when, from Government, the education sector and employers to transition existing skilled workers to low-carbon industries and build new low-carbon career paths for the future?