Mayors from Manchester, Liverpool, Tyne and Wear and West Yorkshire have called for the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill to be scrapped.
This legislation would put in place regular rounds for North Sea licencing if it were to come to fruition.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, Tracy Brabin, mayor of West Yorkshire Jamie Driscoll, mayor of North of Tyne, and Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool have sent a letter to the UK government calling for this bill to be abandoned.
However, the chief executive of trade body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), David Whitehouse, has invited the mayors to listen to the views of the UK energy workforce.
Mr Whitehouse has written an open letter to the group to avoid a repetition of the problems created by the unmanaged deindustrialisation of Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Yorkshire and Tyneside.
The OEUK boss argues: “Politicians may thrive on opposition and argument, particularly in an election year, but ambitious engineering projects only succeed through collaboration.”
In a recent conversation with Energy Voice, David Whitehouse said the industry wants to “work with every political party.”
The trade body boss said: “The more we can get consensus around, yes, we need to deliver a successful energy transition, but our domestic oil and gas sector has a critical role to play in it. I think the more confidence that builds in those investing in the sector.”
He says that the UK’s journey to net zero is “the biggest engineering project this country has ever seen” and it will fail if “we undermine” the firms and workers who are set to deliver it.
Mr Whitehouse writes: “Recent announcements from Grangemouth and Port Talbot may indicate we are not getting this right.
“Shedding jobs, increasing imports and undermining our key sectors will mean we are unable to take the opportunities of the energy transition which will have implications for every part of the country.”
The OEUK chief executive concludes: “A successful energy transition is one that delivers jobs and wealth by working with our existing industries which are the platform for our greener future.”
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