(Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Approving the Jackdaw gas field was the “right decision,” Shirley-Anne Somerville has said, but only if it produces cleaner energy than shipping it in from abroad.
The remarks from the Social Justice Secretary, mark the closest any minister in John Swinney’s administration has come to backing the controversial development.
Gas from the field around 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen will start flowing within weeks after the project was given the green light in an effort to improve domestic energy security and provide an economic boost.
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The approval of Jackdaw is expected to increase domestic gas production by around 6% at its peak, safeguard hundreds of jobs and provide an estimated £2.9 billion economic boost.
Tax revenues from North Sea oil and gas will also be funnelled into a new energy wealth fund, backed with an initial £2 billion, which will be used to invest in renewable and low-carbon projects.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said ministers would 'crack on' with the decision over Rosebank (Image: Paul Reid/PA)
A decision on Rosebank, the largest untapped oil field in the North Sea, is still to be made.
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Miatta Fahnbulleh has promised there will be "no delay" on the decision, telling The Herald that despite reports she is minded to reject it, the ruling is "quasi-judicial" and will be decided strictly on the consultation evidence and legal tests.
In 2023, in what was ultimately one of her final acts as First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon published the Scottish Government's draft energy strategy, which set out a presumption against new oil and gas exploration.
While the final version of that strategy has yet to materialise, ahead of May's election the First Minister signalled a shift in his party's position, saying energy security should be considered in any new decisions on further exploration, though he stopped short of backing Rosebank and Jackdaw.
Ms Somerville was asked whether she welcomed Wednesday's approval, after days of questions over the SNP government's position.
She said: "I welcome the fact that after many, many years, the UK government has made a decision."
Pressed on whether it was the right one, she said: "They've had to look at it on a case-by-case basis, and it's important that they look at it on a case-by-case basis around energy security and around climate change obligations.
"We haven't seen the full details of what's behind the decision, but I would presume that they have looked at the fact that actually producing that gas production in Scottish waters is actually better than importing it from elsewhere because of the impact on the climate. And if that, indeed, is the case, then that's the right decision to be made.
"Now, of course, as I say, we haven't seen the details of what's behind the UK government's research, but we are presuming that that is the case."
However, Ms Somerville said Scotland was getting no benefit from the field.
She said: "We have another example of further production happening within the Scottish waters, but no benefit to Scotland. We would compare that to Norway, who, of course, have planned for the future and they're currently sitting on a wealth fund of £1 trillion because they have planned for the future."
The UK Government announced an energy wealth fund alongside the decision. It opens with £2 billion and will be funded by extra North Sea tax revenue to pay for clean energy projects.
Mr Swinney has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to say that "any such fund should be prioritised for offshore renewable opportunities and be ring-fenced to be focused on the north-east of Scotland".
Gas from the field around 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen will start flowing within weeks (Image: (Jane Barlow/PA))
The Scottish Greens, who have backed SNP budgets, say the government's position is still unclear.
Co-leader Gillian Mackay, speaking on the Sunday Show from her party's conference in Inverness, said: "They're really at a crossroads as to whether they're going to go back to the pro-oil, pro-drilling party of the past, or whether they are going to continue to follow that more outward-looking focus of Nicola Sturgeon on having that presumption against any new oil and gas."
She said whether the final strategy keeps the presumption against new oil and gas would be "very interesting for myself and my party".
Asked if support for oil and gas could be a red line in budget talks, she said: "We're not a party that works in red lines."
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Professor John Underhill, of Aberdeen University's Centre for Energy Transition, said the approval had set a precedent for further gas projects.
He told the programme: "I think the precedent has been set whereby other gas discoveries already made in active licences could be tied back to infrastructure."
He said the UK was no longer self-sufficient in gas, with about two-fifths of last year's supply coming from UK waters and the rest imported. About 2.5 million Scottish homes rely on gas for heating and cooking.
He said the regulator had found that gas from UK waters, including Jackdaw, had lower emissions than imported liquefied natural gas, much of it from the United States.
Both Ms Somerville and Ms Mackay ruled out nuclear power. Ms Somerville said the SNP has "no intention of changing its position", and Ms Mackay said she would not support a motion at her conference calling for a more nuanced Green stance.