An offshore industry leader has praised both sides in the independence debate for “behaving responsibly” and not damaging the sector.
Malcolm Webb, chief executive of trade body Oil and Gas UK, suggested the record levels of investment in the North Sea this year proved that the battle over Scotland’s future was not having a negative impact.
He issued a challenge to both camps to continue to ensure the sector was not affected until the referendum on September 18 next year.
Mr Webb was speaking at an Oil and Gas UK event in London yesterday, when an audience of 150 also heard the boss of a major offshore firm saying independence would make no difference to him – and a senior coalition minister arguing that the current arrangements worked best for the sector.
Asked by a delegate from the industry about the independence issue, Mr Webb said: “The official position of Oil and Gas UK is neutrality on this issue.
“It’s for the electorate in Scotland to decide and it would be our obligation to live with whatever that decision is.
“But we are, I guess, challenging both sides in the debate to not do things in the run-up to this question that would in any way damage the industry.
“I think frankly both sides are behaving very responsibly in that regard, and maybe it’s testament to that, that this year the North Sea has seen the highest levels of capital investment ever.”
However, Mr Webb warned that if either side did try to use the sector as a political football, then “we’ll have something to say about it”.
At the same event, James Edens, vice-president and managing director of Canadian Natural Resources (UK), suggested he would not have a preference for or against independence, as long as any government could offer fiscal stability.
“From a company’s perspective, to be honest, if there is oil and gas in the basin then I’ll send the royalty cheque to whoever is responsible for receiving it,” he said.
The keynote speaker yesterday, Energy Secretary Ed Davey, said it was vital that the referendum did not affect investment.
The Liberal Democrat said: “We need to make sure that whatever happens there is confidence in the overall regime, and in no way does the run-up to the independence referendum, and whatever may come afterwards, undermine investment in the North Sea.”
