The UK Government’s commitment to oil and gas remains strong, according to a Conservative MEP.
Prime Minister Theresa May has axed the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and merged it into the Department of Department of Business, Energy and Industry.
The move caused an outcry, with Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig, SNP energy spokesman, saying it showed a disregard for the city’s crisis-hit oil industry.
But Scottish MEP Ian Duncan, the Conservative’s energy and climate change spokesman, said his party was still committed to the oil and gas industry.
He said: “Energy remains absolutely crucial – in the middle of the oil price crisis, energy is the part we want to be focused on. The political stimulus for the oil and gas sector is a taxation issue.
“This is not just for the energy department but also for finance so we can ensure the oil and gas industry continues to grow.”
Dr Duncan said the department was not being closed down but made to run more efficiently.
He said: “What has happened here is the department has been rearranged to make it more efficient.
“There does seem to be an assumption when we talk about closing the department that means we close down the building and sell off the chairs.
“The personnel remain the same, the targets remain the same and the commitments to the oil and gas industry remain the same.”
Dr Duncan also denied the removal of climate change from the department’s name meant green commitments were being watered down.
He said: “The commitments the UK Government has previously made are still strong and our climate change act remains the most progressive in the EU.
“I’ve got a meeting to talk about energy reforms next week and these reforms are not just about the EU but also carbon trading with places like Norway.
“In fact, the EU will now struggle to meet its some of its carbon trading commitments because the UK has played such a leading role.”
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