Future of the Oil and Gas Industry Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
John Lamont
Main Page: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)Department Debates - View all John Lamont's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Future of the Oil and Gas Industry
John Lamont Excerpts(5 years, 8 months ago)
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John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)
The hon. Gentleman is speaking very well about the work of the Committee in this regard. We worked very well to produce the report. On the redeployment of skills as the supply of oil continues to diminish, paragraph 82 of the report identifies fracking as an opportunity for these skills to be redeployed. Colette Cohen, the chief executive of the Oil & Gas Technology Centre, said that fracking would provide
“increased opportunities for the workforce”
and
“for the technologies and skills we already have.”
Does the hon. Gentleman agree that there is an opportunity to continue to use these skills in fracking and connected industries?
Pete Wishart
I had a sneaking suspicion that I would secure an intervention based on the hon. Gentleman’s desire for fracking to be included in all this. As he knows, there was a robust debate among Committee members on the value of fracking and what we should say about it in the report. He knows that I do not share his views, although I am aware of the evidence that was given sincerely by some members of the sector. The Committee agreed a consensus that this was something we were not really concerned with as we went forward, and we have left it as such in the report.