North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

As always, it is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) for raising this issue. Although we will not always be aligned on all things—I can think of one in particular—the need to support workers is something we can certainly share a view on. What an introduction by the hon. Lady, who set the scene so well with detailed information and incredible knowledge. It is a great pleasure to see the Minister in his place. His commitment is never in doubt, and I think we will be reassured by his answers. It is also a pleasure to see the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie). We look forward to his contribution, too.

The North sea oil and gas industry employs an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 workers in the UK. A significant portion is concentrated along the east and north-east coast, but I remind everyone that, while that may be the thrust of where the industry seeks its workers from, I have a number of constituents who have worked in the North sea oil fields for 20, 30 or 40 years—probably all their working lives. Indeed, I was coming home on the plane three or four weeks ago and the guy alongside me had previously been in Dubai, which the hon. Member for Aberdeen North referred to, and had also worked in the middle east. On the occasion I met him he was coming from Libya back to Northern Ireland. The sector employs people from all across Northern Ireland. I know about those from my constituency, but there are others from elsewhere too.

Although new projects and licensing rounds have been approved, they are unlikely to reverse the declining production and workforce in the North sea, as most of the remaining reserves are in existing developments. The industry also supports a larger workforce indirectly through the supply chain, so the impact will be felt across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Those workforce figures mean that the Government must seriously consider questions of our energy supply and their implications, and I believe that they are doing so; indeed, I know that this issue is on the Minister’s agenda. The Government’s own data on the situation is telling, most helpful and encouraging, and I know that he will sum it up shortly.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero digest of UK energy statistics shows a 72% reduction in UK oil and gas production between 1999 and 2023, and the North Sea Transition Authority projects an 89% drop in UK oil and gas production by 2050. These statistics cannot be ignored; they show a trend. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics shows that direct jobs in oil and gas extraction fell by around a third between 2014 and 2023. Meanwhile, the findings of the 2023 Robert Gordon University study, “Powering up the Workforce”, included an estimate that the offshore renewables workforce—including those employed in offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen—could increase to between 70,000 and 138,000 in 2030.

That last figure, which shows the potential that exists, cannot be ignored. Indeed, the hon. Member for Aberdeen North clearly set out the transition from where jobs are today to jobs for the future. The Robert Gordon University study also found that over 90% of the UK’s oil and gas workforce have medium to high skills transferability and are well positioned to work in the adjacent energy sector. That cannot be ignored. It shows where we think we are; indeed, it has been the focus of everybody in this debate so far. The issue that the hon. Lady raised is clear. The Government are aware of the impending opportunity—or, if they do not take action, the impending unemployment problem. They must act urgently.

Oil and gas companies must have support for diversification training and help for staff to ensure that communities of oil and gas workers do not end up in a similar position to the coalmining communities who were abandoned when we knew of the difficulties, which took generations to combat. We have an opportunity today—the Government have an opportunity today—to act and see through the transition, taking advantage of the transferable skills that we have all referred to in this debate.

I believe that the North sea has more to yield than many Members have said today. Our opinions can differ on that, but we must be united in looking to the care of the sector in the near and medium term, and the Government must take the lead on that today. It is important that we look at the bigger picture. I referred to those from Northern Ireland, including some of my constituents, who have worked in the oil and gas sector for some 30 or 40 years. Their sons and others will look for opportunities. I want to make sure that, when the Government bring forward their thoughts about what is taking place, the opportunities for training and jobs will exist for us all. I always say that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has many talents and much work to do together. Let us continue to do just that.