Former BP policy analyst Lord Duncan has told north-east energy firms to remember that they are “all on the same team” if they are to pull together in the same direction on climate targets.
Lord Duncan, now parliamentary under-secretary of state for Scotland, told the audience during the opening plenary on day two of Oil and Gas UK’s (OGUK) Industry Conference yesterday that meeting climate goals should be viewed as an “opportunity” rather than a challenge.
He added that the whole North Sea oil and gas sector would need to work together to find solutions.
He said: “When we look at the North Sea we see the opportunities.
“Glengorm and Glendronach are both extraordinary opportunities and the Clair Ridge is a great opportunity to explore and extract, but also to develop new technologies.
“The important thing to remember here is that we’re all on the same team here when it comes to maximising returns from that particular basin.”
Lord Duncan also said that Scotland and the UK had to grasp the opportunities provided by the development of carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS).
He urged the sector to take the lead on development and utilise the talent created during the expansion of the North Sea.
Lord Duncan said: “We need to figure out how to bring along CCUS into the needful development of our oil and gas strategy.
“If we do not do that then we cannot meet our Paris climate targets, full stop.
“We should be leaders in this just as we were for the offshore extraction of oil and gas.”
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