Shadow energy minister Clive Lewis has branded the new oil and gas regulator an “insolvency practitioner”.
His characterisation of the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) prompted criticism from the SNP’s Callum McCaig and energy minister Andrea Leadsom.
In a moment of rare agreement, they both insisted the sector was not yet a “sunset industry”.
Mr Lewis’s remarks came during a committee meeting on the Energy Bill, which formally establishes the OGA and is currently making its way through the Westminster parliament.
The Norwich South MP said: “In light of the current collapse of the price of oil, in some ways it’s more like an insolvency practitioner which has come to extract the last bits of value from the UK continental shelf and to manage the process as effectively as possible.”
Aberdeen South MP Mr McCaig called the comparison “insensitive and unrealistic”.
He added: “I don’t believe it reflects the true future the North Sea has if it is marshalled correctly.”
He also pointed to expert estimates that suggest up to 24 billion barrels could still be extracted.
Mrs Leadsom, speaking on behalf of the UK Government, said it was “absolutely not the case” that the OGA is an insolvency practitioner.
She added: “We see this as an ongoing success story for the UK – with over 350,000 jobs throughout the supply chain – that creates enormous benefit to the UK economy and hope it will continue to do so for decades to come.
“With expectations of potentially over 20 billion barrels left, it’s not a sunset industry, we have to be clear about that.”
Responding, Mr Lewis said he had not meant to be insensitive, adding: “It’s just a frank and realistic assessment of the economic situation.”
He also said carbon capture and storage (CCS) should be made a principal objective of the OGA.
“We should have a strategy that maximises the return on investment,” he went on.
“It’s an opportunity to think long-term and escape from the short-term cash-in mentality of the past.”
But Mr McCaig, his party’s energy spokesman at Westminster, said the OGA should be allowed to focus on maximising the economic recovery.
Mrs Leadsom said the OGA would be collaborating with the CCS industry to “foster innovation”.
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