Energy industry chief David Whitehouse will be pressing the case for prioritising domestic oil and gas when he is expected to meet the new Secretary of State in Aberdeen on Thursday.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was promoted to Andy Burnham’s Cabinet just two years since being elected to parliament, has no scheduled meetings with the media but she is expected to meet industry leaders in the city. She is known to be a close aide to Mr Burnham and does not favour new licences for oil and gas.
Speaking last night to Daily Business Mr Whitehouse, chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, would only say that he “would expect to meet with her in the coming days”.
He said he was encouraged by her initial comment earlier this week that she will be “pragmatic”. He will tell her that the UK needs to prioritise its own production.
He insisted that the message is now getting through with the GMB and Unite unions among those now supporting the case for the UK continuing to produce oil and gas alongside moves towards net zero.
“The fact you hear voices like Dale Vince [owner of Ecotricity] who talks about putting his arms around the North Sea .. I think you are now getting a broader consensus that this is the right path.”
Mr Whitehouse, who was attending an OEUK reception in Edinburgh, added: “The current chief executive of Scottish Renewables made the case for why we should continue to support our oil and gas sector alongside the build-out of renewables, which is an important intervention.
“Coalition is there and independent data from Opinium showed over 71% of the UK public say we should continue to prioritise producing energy ourselves. Only 9% said it did not matter where our energy comes from.
“So, our workforce is getting it, industry is getting it and now we need a government that recognises it.
“We find it difficult that the previous government [puts the uk] in a position where we will import jet fuel and diesel refined from Russian crude oil and yet we have been unable to prioritise our own production over imports. I think that’s wrong. Our workforce think it’s wrong, and I hope to see that change.”
Mr Whitehouse said Michael Shanks, who has been re-appointed energy minister, should be credited for his engagement with the industry, even though he pushed the net zero strategy.
“This is a new government. It is a chance for a reset. A reset in language where we say we are going to prioritise our own production, and a reset in policy which is where we are very clear about the need to move forward with projects like Rosebank and Jackdaw, and we need to see the acceleration of the oil and gas profits levy that the Treasury announced last year.”
Mr Whitehouse was asked if he was relieved that Ed Miliband, who was anti-fossil fuel, had been moved from the energy department to a new post in government.
“I congratulate him on the role he has taken on,” he said, diplomatically. “I think he gave a moving speech as to his reasons why taking on the post of Foreign Secretary was so important to him. I absolutely wish him well in that job.”
Asked again if Mr Miliband had been a “thorn in the side” of OEUK, he said: “I congratulate him on taking on the role of Foreign Secretary and I thought his speech was very moving.”
He added: “We have always called for the UK to prioritise its own production and we do want to see a change in language and this is an opportunity now, with a new prime minister and secretary of state, to achieve that.”
He insisted that the arguments put forward by OEUK are compelling and “fundamentally the arguments we make are very consistent with Andy Burnham’s own political philosophy, which is ‘we need to back UK industries’.”
He expects Mr Burnham to visit Aberdeen in due course. Sir Keir Starmer never visited the area during his two years as prime minister.
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