ENERGY LEADERS DEMAND ACTION FROM GOVERNMENT

More than 40 specially-invited energy company leaders – from oil and gas to wind, hydrogen and carbon capture – attended a special business summit in the House of Commons to discuss the challenges and opportunities that the Energy Transition can bring to the North-east of Scotland.

Hosted by Peterhead Port Authority and Banff and Buchan MP, David Duguid, who is also chair of the 1922 Energy Committee, the meeting called for the UK Government to finally approve the Acorn Carbon Capture and Storage (CCUS) project based at St Fergus, near Peterhead, which has been subject to significant delays in getting government approval.

The meeting also heard how critical oil and gas companies – and their vital investment in the North Sea – was for energy security and to ensure the UK led the way in the sensible transition to new energy provision.

Among those speaking at the event were Stuart Payne, CEO of the energy regulator, the North Sea Transition Authority; Dave Whitehouse, CEO of the sector’s representative body OEUK; and Steve Murphy, COO of Storegga, the lead player in the Acorn CCUS project.

Simon Brebner, Peterhead Port CEO, called on the Government to back the project and its associated Scottish Cluster – which will enable huge industrial partners to decarbonise by storing carbon dioxide in redundant oil reservoirs in the North Sea – swiftly to ensure the region stays ahead of the global competition in carbon capture and storage.

“We are in a geographic sweet spot for the energy transition and can help businesses make the transition fairly effectively – this project is critical in helping reduce greenhouse emissions.”

The meeting also heard from Levelling up Minister Michael Gove who said the announcement of an Investment Zone for the North-east of Scotland – “taking in Peterhead and Fraserburgh at its heart” – was a vote of confidence for the region.

Stuart Payne, CEO of NSTA, said the scale of the prize with the energy transition was huge – and Peterhead Port could help deliver that.

“The North Sea is the jewel in the crown of the UK’s energy industry which the rest of the world would love to have – brilliant natural resources, brilliant people and brilliant skills,” he said.

Mr Payne said the size of the prize was a potential £200billion investment in the UKCS – half in oil and gas and roughly half in wind – over the next decade.

“We need to not be afraid to speak up for the sector and make the government understand that importance,” he added.

Dave Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK, said the energy sector supported 200,000 jobs in the UK, and it was the skills created by the UK’s oil and gas sector that would assist in decarbonising the planet.

“And we need to get after it and ensure we anchor more of those highly-skilled jobs in the North-east of Scotland.”

But Mr Whitehouse warned that the UK is in a global race for energy investment as other countries seek to lead the charge on the energy transition and carbon capture and storage in particular.

“We have to make the North Sea a brilliant place to invest – we are competing with the US, EU and Japan among others; there are opportunities and battles that we need to win.

“The Treasury, we are told, sees carbon capture as a cost, but we have to do better and see it not as a cost but a massive opportunity.” And we have to do more to show the public that the solutions come from oil and gas instead of it being the problem, he said.

Steve Murphy, Chief operating Officer of Storegga, that leads the Acorn carbon capture project, said it could create 18,000 long-term jobs and see £8-12 billion of investment in the UK over a decade.

But he warned of potential investor fatigue as they wait for the project to finally get approval from the government and fears that momentum was being lost while other countries, like the USA, encourage inward investment in their own nascent carbon capture programmes.

“The timing is critical – we need help from government to maintain that momentum and reassurance now that the (Acorn) project is going to get approval,” he said.

David Duguid MP said it was critical the sector joined forces to reiterate how it was the solution and not the problem.

“Carbon capture and storage is just one of the opportunities that this area presents, and the recently announced North East Scotland Investment Zone shows that Banff and Buchan and the wider North-east of Scotland feature greatly in the UK Government’s plans for the future,” Mr Duguid said.

The Scottish Cluster project based near Peterhead could potentially store as much carbon dioxide as the UK has ever emitted.