A political row has erupted over the SNP’s continued fracking ban.
The Scottish Conservatives have accused Holyrood leaders of ignoring the potential of unconventional oil and gas recovery in favour of renewables.
The accusations from Tory shadow energy spokesman Alexander Burnett MSP come in the wake of the SNP’s unveiling of plans for “a modern, integrated energy system”.
Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse set out the SNP’s plans for a transition to a low carbon country earlier this week in a draft strategy, which covers the period up to 2050.
The Scottish Government paper came just days after Theresa May released an industrial plan for a post Brexit Britain – which only mentioned oil and gas twice in 132 pages.
The SNP proposals include favouring a move towards renewable energy sources coupled with ambitious green energy targets, including delivering half of Scotland’s heat, transport and electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030.
But Mr Burnett said the SNP’s continued backing for a moratorium on unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOG) shows that the SNP is still “sitting on the fence” when it comes to fracking.
The Tory MSP said: “While it is right that the SNP’s energy policy looks to alternative sources of energy in the longer term, many will wonder why the government remains on the fence when it comes to fracking.
“It is now two years since a moratorium was introduced, and we are still no closer to a decision, with the minister indicating yesterday that a public consultation has still not even started yet.
“We are faced with the bizarre situation of importing shale gas from the US to Grangemouth while imposing a ban on technology that has already been deemed safe by scientific advice commissioned by the Scottish Government.”
The SNP have placed a heavy emphasis on moving towards low carbon, renewable energy sources in recent years.
A moratorium on fracking was put in place by the nationalists in January 2015 pending further studies.
In the Scottish Government’s draft energy strategy released earlier this week, the energy minister revealed that they had undertaken an “extensive period of evidence gathering” around unconventional oil and gas recovery.
This included looking at potential “economic, social, health and climate change impacts” of the technique.
A full public consultation on the controversial topic is now to be carried out and the findings will be reported back to Scottish Ministers.
The draft energy strategy states: “Once that consultation closes and the responses have been independently analysed, Ministers will consider the full range of evidence, and make a recommendation to parliament on the future of unconventional oil and gas in Scotland and invite Members of the Scottish Parliament to vote on the issue.”
A spokesperson for Mr Wheelhouse said: “It is disappointing to see the Scottish Tories once again talking down the prospects for the North Sea oil and gas industry and the men and women who make it a success.
“Scottish Government ministers are working tirelessly to support the sector and play their part in ensuring it has a bright future.
“It is ironic that it’s Alexander Burnett’s Tory colleagues in Whitehall who have repeatedly failed to do likewise.
“All this comes in the week when it was revealed the Tories cost UK taxpayers £100million when they cancelled a competition to encourage the development of vital carbon capture and storage technology – a competition which Peterhead was well placed to win.”
The spokesman added: “We have published a series of independent expert reports and are about to give the people of Scotland their say on this vital issue when we launch our national consultation.
“Once that consultation closes and the responses have been independently analysed, we will consider the full range of evidence, and make a recommendation on the future of unconventional oil and gas.”
However, Mr Burnett claims it is the SNP who seem to have forgotten that two years ago Brent Crude was an economic cornerstone of their vision of an independent Scotland – and not renewable revenue.
He added: “The SNP’s economic case for independence in 2014 was based on unsustainable global oil prices of more than $110 a barrel.
“Clearly, events since then have shown just how volatile the market can be and it is clear that an independent Scotland would be faced with a huge financial black hole due to collapsed revenue from the North Sea.
“In contrast, the UK Government was able to provide billions of pounds in tax breaks that the industry has acknowledged have made the fiscal regime in the UK Continental Shelf the most competitive in the world.”
Recommended for you
