Sir Ian Wood comments on Acorn and oil and gas licenses

SIR IAN Wood, Chairman of ETZ Ltd, has commented on yesterday’s UK Government decision on the Acorn Carbon Capture Scheme. He said:

“The decision to support the Acorn Project is hugely welcome and marks a significant step in ensuring the North East of Scotland retains its status as a globally recognised energy hub. Today’s announcement follows extensive efforts from the wider business community to encourage the UK Government to accelerate plans for the Scottish cluster which remain one of the most most cost-effective locations to advance CCUS in the UK given the capacity for CO2 storage in the North Sea and the existing oil and gas infrastructure available to repurpose for CO2 transport and storage. Vitally, there is also a huge opportunity for Scottish oil and gas firms, domestic supply chain companies and our wider economy to harness the skills and expertise of our current workforce in the coming years and contribute significantly to meeting net zero targets.

“In terms of the decision to award new oil and gas licenses, this is also welcome and provides much needed clarity for the industry. It makes absolutely no sense to reduce our reliance on domestic oil and gas production only to increase carbon heavier imports from overseas and place in jeopardy tens of thousands of jobs with would be both economically and environmentally counterproductive. We must proceed to deliver a managed and just transition that protects jobs and encourages our oil and gas industry to make the investments required that will in turn help us accelerate toward new and green energies.

“Indeed, our firm focus remains on fully realising the massive renewables opportunity, particularly in offshore wind and green hydrogen. For example, a massive 17GW of agreed floating wind projects are within 100 nautical miles of Aberdeen accounting for 73% of all such projects in Scottish waters. This is, therefore, a sector in which our region has a natural competitive advantage to become global leaders and, given these technologies are not available at scale just now, we can only achieve this ambition if we protect the existing critical mass in jobs and expertise that will be so crucial in unlocking it.

“The importance of lowering emissions and meeting net zero targets whilst enhancing the country’s energy security cannot be overstated and it is clear the world-class energy sector across the North East of Scotland is fundamental to achieving these aims.”

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