Oil and Gas Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
Susan Murray
Main Page: Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dunbartonshire)Department Debates - View all Susan Murray's debates with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
(1 day, 9 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Harriet Cross
I do not want to pick between the two, but as a double act they are dreadful for the UK economy.
From now and into the years ahead, the transition, which the Government are so dedicated to, will see the industry move away from Aberdeen, because the supply chain, which they know is so important to the transition, is sustained by the oil and gas sector. Production from the North sea decreased by 40% last year. That is not because of geology; it is because of the energy profits levy and the ban on licences.
Susan Murray (Mid Dunbartonshire) (LD)
Does the hon. Lady agree that UK production in the North sea can never put us in a position like Norway, because Margaret Thatcher gave away our oil industry to private companies and we have no sovereign fund?
Harriet Cross
We need to import more than we produce, so why would we not produce to the full extent that we can from the North sea? I am sure that the hon. Lady, as a Scottish Member of Parliament, appreciates just how important the industry is to our constituents. As for the Scottish Labour Members of Parliament, I wonder whether they are sitting there wondering just what the Government are doing to their constituents.