As global energy supplies come under increasing pressure, a new report argues the North Sea must become the UK’s frontline defence against future energy shocks.
North Sea Energy – A Second Life, authored by the founding chairman of the Kings Policy Institute, Prof Nick Butler, suggests that recent geopolitical instability in the Middle East has shifted the debate over the future of the North Sea from one focused exclusively on climate change to one increasingly centred on energy security and economic resilience.
The report has been published by Our Scottish Future, the think tank established by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown, which published a series of recommendations in its 2023 report, North Sea 2. That report outlined how existing North Sea assets such as platforms, pipelines and onshore processing plants could be repurposed to underpin the UK’s energy transition – supporting technologies such as offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen, and eventually a shared North Sea power network.
The new report makes the case for accelerating a ‘North Sea 2’ programme in light of recent geopolitical instability – a move which Professor Butler argues could secure domestic energy supplies whilst also unlocking significant economic and strategic benefits for Scotland and the wider UK.
It argues that existing North Sea assets can be the foundation of a new era of energy production, safeguarding highly skilled jobs while supporting the growth of a globally competitive low-carbon offshore sector. By using existing infrastructure to accelerate investment in renewable energy and other emerging technologies, while maintaining secure domestic oil and gas supplies during the transition, the report suggests Scotland and the wider UK could attract significant private capital, create new sources of wealth and reduce costly decommissioning liabilities.
Drawing on examples from Norway, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, Professor Butler argues that retaining strategic energy and industrial capacity will be critical to reducing dependence on imports and strengthening the UK’s energy security amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.
Nick Butler, author of North Sea Energy – A Second Life said: “Recent events have demonstrated that frictionless globalisation cannot be relied upon to maintain national energy security.
“Rather than allowing decades of expertise, infrastructure and industrial capability to be lost, we should use them to build the next generation of offshore energy industries. The North Sea has been one of the UK’s greatest industrial success stories over the last 50 years. We now have an opportunity to use those same skills and assets to support economic growth, strengthen energy security and accelerate the transition to lower-carbon sources of energy.
“North Sea oil production will inevitably decline over time, but that should not mean turning our backs on an industry that continues to provide jobs, investment and energy security. The challenge is to manage the transition in a way that protects our strategic interests while creating a new industrial success story that can deliver economic and environmental benefits for decades to come.
“The case for North Sea 2 is, in this context, indisputable.”
Read the report here.
