Scottish Labour leadership contenders back North Sea drilling approval

The two candidates in the Scottish Labour leadership race have called for new drilling licenses in the North Sea to be approved "as soon as possible".

MSPs Joe Fagan and Michael Marra both said the Rosebank oil and Jackdaw gas fields offered cleaner methods of extraction than could be relied upon abroad, and that approval was vital to support jobs.

UK Labour ministers are set to make a decision on both projects after consultations closed in recent weeks.

The offshore industry has been lobbying hard, stressing the economic and energy security benefits, but environmentalist argue that more drilling is incompatible with efforts to tackle climate change.

Marra and Fagan, the only two candidates to secure enough nominations to stand, are vying to replace Anas Sarwar after he announced he was joining Andy Burnham's UK government via the House of Lords.

Monica Lennon also wanted to stand, but failed to secure enough support from fellow Labour MSPs.

The candidates were asked for their views on the drilling licences by Press Association after a hustings in Stirling before voting in the contest begins on Monday.

Marra said the issue was "finely balanced" but he believed oil and gas could be produced in a cleaner way in the UK rather than by importing from abroad.

He said: "I want to see that decision as soon as possible, but I know that it's a challenging decision for the UK government."

Drilling would be "vital" for the north-east of Scotland as well as boosting public finances, he added.

"We need to move faster to make sure we can secure proper investment in the North Sea," he said.

Fagan also urged the UK government to approve the licences, saying there was a risk of offshore supply chains being "destroyed" if there was no movement.

"In fairness to the UK government, this isn't just a political decision, it's a legal decision as well," he said.

"They are bound by climate legislation. What's important for me is that they make that decision as soon as possible."

He said that if he won "I would put pressure on the UK government to make a decision quicker and to make the right decision for the Scottish and UK economy".

The winner of the leadership contest is due to be announced on Saturday 19 September.

The Rosebank oil field and the Jackdaw gas field, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, had been approved under the previous Conservative government and construction is well under way.

But a legal challenge was brought at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in 2024 by campaign groups Uplift and Greenpeace UK which argued that consent was given without fully considering the impact of burning the fossil fuels which will be produced.

The previous decisions were ruled unlawful and sent back to the regulator Opred to be taken again.

Uplift has called on the UK government to reject the applications, insisting that more drilling will "wreck our planet" and result in more extreme weather.

Ultimately the decision is a quasi-legal one which will be taken by the regulator subject to final approval by the Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.

Although no timetable has been set for the final decision, the operator says a relatively quick decision could see the Jackdaw field producing gas by the winter.