Both the UK and Scottish Governments should help Dundee to secure highly skilled decommissioning jobs, Scottish Labour has said.
Ahead of the launch of a public consultation into the decommissioning of Brent oil platforms, the party’s leader Jim Murphy said Scottish workers should not lose out on the economic benefits.
Royal Dutch Shell has stated its intention for the large Brent platforms to be decommissioned in Teeside. Past projects of this scale have been awarded to companies in Norway and Denmark.
Mr Murphy said: “There is huge potential for Scotland to keep more of the highly skilled, highly valued commissioning jobs from the oil industry, which will be an industry in itself.
“Cities like Dundee have a proud engineering and shipbuilding history, which makes them perfectly placed to be centres of excellence for work.
“This is an area where the UK and Scottish Governments should be thinking strategically, given the skills base and expertise here in Scotland.
“We can’t just watch as the job opportunities of decommissioning disappear over the horizon. We can use them to create a lasting legacy for Scotland’s economic future.
“Instead of seeing jobs sail off to Norway, Denmark and even Hull, we should be trying to tether some of them to Tayside.
“This is a watershed moment in the history of Scotland’s oil industry.
“We need to start planning for the future now, preparing Scots to be at the cutting edge of the economy of tomorrow. As the oil and gas industry moves into a different phase we need to exploit the skills of our workers at home and abroad.”