North Sea oil production plummeted 17% in 2011 to the lowest level since the 1970s, new figures have revealed.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change blamed unexpected offshore slowdowns and a general decline in production.
Chancellor George Osborne’s surprise £10billion tax grab on producers in the 2011 Budget was another reason.
Natural gas production also fell dramatically. It was 21% lower than in 2010 – and imports of gas were greater than production for the first time since 1967.
Oonagh Werngren, operations director for trade body Oil and Gas UK, said: “The industry has been working with the government to ensure that new investment in projects will help to turn around this decline. The drop can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the impact of tax uncertainty affecting investment and extended maintenance programmes.”
The decline in oil and gas production contributed to a record 13% decrease in energy production in the UK.
The proportion of electricity generated using renewables increased by 2% on 2010, to a record 9%. This included a rise in hydro generation of 58% and wind by 54%.
The Decc report also shows that renewable electricity generation in Scotland rose by 7% in 2012 to 14,645 gigawatt hours (GWh) compared with 2011. Renewable generation in England rose by 31% in the same period, to 23,007GWh.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “Scotland contributed more than a third of the entire UK’s renewables output, demonstrating just how important a role our renewable resource is playing in terms of helping the UK meet its binding EU renewable energy targets.”
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