Swinney meets Ineos chiefs… but no record of minutes ever taken
An opposition MSP has blasted the Scottish Government after it emerged John Swinney had sat down with Ineos chiefs – but no minutes of the meeting were taken.
An opposition MSP has blasted the Scottish Government after it emerged John Swinney had sat down with Ineos chiefs – but no minutes of the meeting were taken.
Ensuring Scottish companies are given support from government to win contracts to decommission major oil and gas assets is an industry priority of the SNP, and a key focus of ours when we address what the sector needs now and in the near future.
The SNP last night demanded the new energy secretary put his money where his mouth is by taking steps to support the oil and gas industry.
A lack of leadership by the Scottish Government could see the country lose out on billions of pounds of decommissioning work in the North Sea, with union leaders claiming it does not fit the SNP’s “political narrative” to invest in the area.
You don't have to be an expert to recognise that the best time to repair the roof is when it ain't raining. And that generally means summer rather than winter.
The north and north-east could be in line to benefit from a boom in oil and gas decommissioning jobs.
The SNP’s £12million flagship retraining fund for redundant oil and gas workers has delivered cash to less than 100 people.
The Scottish Government has said it will continue to explore the potential for fracking in Scotland despite a vote in parliament in favour of an outright ban.
Nicola Sturgeon has unveiled her new Cabinet in a reshuffle which has removed Fergus Ewing from his energy role.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP has won an historic third term in government at Holyrood, as Labour suffered further losses in its former Scottish heartlands.
The SNP’s finance chief has vowed a “strong and committed response” to help the struggling oil industry as he visited an Aberdeen factory that relies on the sector for 70% of its business.
Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to help Scottish oil and gas companies secure contracts in the offshore renewables industry if her party is re-elected on May 5.
The other day on the doorstep, I got into a conversation with a man who was facing redundancy in the oil and gas sector, we discussed the work being done by the Energy Jobs Taskforce, set up by the Scottish Government, and he said he was pleased to see support coming to the North East via the extended investment in the City Region Deal, and support for individuals to retrain.
Nicola Sturgeon has insisted fracking in Scotland “ain’t allowed to happen“ as Labour announced its opposition to the controversial process.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats had urged the administration to host a session in the Scottish Parliament on the future of the offshore industry, amid spiralling job losses in the sector.
The low oil price has led to a “complete and utter collapse” of the SNP’s policy, the Prime Minister has claimed. David Cameron told MPs in the Commons that a low oil price “basically is good for the British economy” but they needed to look at helping the oil and gas industry.
North east MSP, Kevin Stewart has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking him to take action on securing jobs in the oil and gas sector.
The UK Government is being urged to outline how it will support a world-leading north-east gas project after the energy secretary announced plans to phase out coal by 2025.
The North Sea oil sector may need a further reduction in its tax bill if prices remain low, the head of an industry body has said.
A senior executive of fracking company Ineos has said he is “not too concerned” about a motion at the SNP conference that could result in a further clampdown on the controversial practice. Party members meeting in Aberdeen will today be asked to back a move that would place tighter restrictions on the party’s moratorium on shale gas extraction. The Scottish Government has already halted any fracking until 2017.
Callum McCaig has branded the Labour Party “shameful” amid claims the SNP failed to act to protect North Sea oil and gas jobs. The Aberdeen South MP told a packed conference hall he would have “appreciated some help” from other MPs in his efforts to protect the “vital industry”. Mr McCaig was responding to comments from Kezia Dugdale reported in Energy Voice's sister publication the Press and Journal.
The Scottish Government has been challenged to tackle the "worst industrial crisis" in the country's history - and help the offshore industry plan for a brighter future.
The first minister has admitted that there is a “great deal” that needs to be done to protect oil and gas jobs – and insisted the Scottish Government is doing all it can to help alleviate the crisis. Nicola Sturgeon said that her taskforce was working to minimise job losses, but that the UK Government needed to stop hampering progress in the sector. The Conservative’s energy spokesman Murdo Fraser rounded on the first minister, saying she needed to do more than “pass the buck” while people are “worried about their futures”. Labour’s energy spokesman Lewis Macdonald agreed that her efforts so far have only “scratched the surface” of the crisis affecting the North East.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed the Scottish Government's Energy Jobs Taskforce has been extended for a further six months.
The Conservatives have accused the Scottish Government of having no strategy to “keep the lights on” after the closure of Scotland’s biggest electricity-generating stations. The party’s energy spokesman Murdo Fraser attacked the SNP administration for putting “all its eggs” in the basket of “intermittent” wind power. Mr Fraser used a Tory debate at Holyrood to call on the Government to consider a new gas-powered generator at the site of the troubled Longannet power station in Fife. Last year it emerged that the station may be forced to close due to what the operator Scottish Power described as “disproportionately high” transmission charges to connect to the main grid network. Scottish generators, including Longannet, account for around 12% of the capacity connected to Britain’s high-voltage electricity network but pay around 35% of the charges, according to the Scottish Government.