The owner of Grangemouth refinery has accused the Scottish Government of “hypocrisy” by impeding fracking when shale gas imports are protecting 10,000 jobs in and around the economically vital plant.
Jim Ratcliffe urged Scottish politicians to embrace shale gas drilling, known as fracking, to close Scotland’s spiralling budget deficit.
The billionaire said Scotland would need to build a trade surplus to succeed as an independent country and shale gas could help plug the gap and attract investment.
The Scottish Government has imposed a moratorium on fracking pending further scientific tests and public consultation.
Think tank Reform Scotland insisted the moratorium is “not logical” given the SNP’s support for offshore oil and gas, in a report released on Friday.
The Conservatives have urged the SNP to lift its “ludicrous” moratorium but Labour and the Greens have called for an all out ban.
In an interview with the Scottish Daily Mail, Mr Ratcliffe said Grangemouth “would be closed today” without shale gas imports.
He said: “Whether the Scottish politicians like it or not, the shale gas which has come from the US rather than the UK has saved 10,000 jobs in the Falkirk area.
“And that’s 5% of the Scottish GDP. So whether they like it or not they have embraced shale gas and 10,000 people’s livelihood depends on shale gas from the USA.”
He added: “There is sort of an element of hypocrisy there.”
Mr Ratcliffe said the economic case for independence is currently untenable with the low oil price stifling North Sea investment.
He said: “It just seems rational to me that if (shale) is successful it would clearly generate lots of income and lots of investment in Scotland, and those have got to be two of the things you have to achieve for independence because you’ve got to operate a trade surplus.”
Stuart Paton, an oil industry adviser and former chief executive of Dana Petroleum, said fracking may also be necessary to prevent an “energy shortage“ following the decommissioning of two nuclear power stations in Scotland.
In a paper for Reform Scotland, he said Scottish Government’s energy policy contains “a number of contradictions” and its opposition to new fossil fuel resources is “not a logical objection for the Scottish Government given its support of the offshore industry”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government is taking a cautious and evidence-led approach to unconventional oil and gas. Our moratorium ensures that no fracking can take place in Scotland.”
Scottish Government-commissioned research will be published later this year ahead of a public consultation which will extend into 2017, he said.
Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Alexander Burnett said: “This is another expert exposing the SNP’s ludicrous position on fracking.”
Scottish Labour environment spokeswoman Claudia Beamish said: “We don’t need another form of fossil fuel extraction in Scotland.”
Scottish Green energy spokesman Mark Ruskell said: “The Scottish Government must legislate for an outright ban on fracking because its vague ’moratorium’ policy is clearly giving hope to fossil fuel giants intent on digging up Scotland.”
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