North Sea oil and gas workers who lose their jobs should be given the chance to work in the fracking industry, an energy minister has said.
Andrea Leadsom said she would be “delighted” if the Scottish Government drops its opposition to the shale gas industry as Westminster and Holyrood work to establish how those left unemployed by the downturn can continue working in the energy sector.
Falls in the oil price have hit the North Sea oil and gas industry and raised concerns over its long-term future, although moves to introduce shale gas extraction have provoked opposition across the UK.
Speaking in the Commons, Conservative former minister Peter Lilley criticised the Scottish Government’s “hypocrisy”.
He said: “While sympathising with the constituents of (Hannah Bardell, SNP MP for Livingston) who have lost their jobs in the North Sea, would not the best thing for them be to create new jobs by allowing fracking in Scotland for the very people with those skills who are being prevented from the prospect of such jobs by the hypocrisy of the SNP Government in Scotland?”
Tory frontbencher Ms Leadsom replied: “I absolutely agree with you. Obviously, it’s a matter for the Scottish Government to decide.
“But certainly one of the policy options I’m looking at in my department, together with (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), is what more we can do in the energy space for those who have lost their jobs.
“So, for example, an experienced offshore engineer may well be able to retrain to work with offshore wind, for example, or even with nuclear.
“So there are other opportunities in the energy space and I know the Scottish Government is looking at this and I certainly would be delighted if they wanted to think again about the importance of shale gas.”
