North Sea oil decline: ‘We can’t have a repeat of what happened to 80s miners’

Last year , the oil basin produced 34m tonnes of oil, its lowest since production in the North Sea was established in the 1970s .

Big oil companies have pulled out of the ageing oil basin.

Despite the government issuing a rush of licences since Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine , the amount of oil set to be extracted is rapidly shrinking.

Meanwhile, the climate crisis fuelled by gas, oil and coal extraction is accelerating at a frightening speed.

There can be no new oil and gas projects if humanity is to avoid catastrophe.

The number of jobs supported directly and indirectly by oil and gas has more than halved in the past decade from 441,000 to 214,00 .

Labour plans to set up a taskforce with Scottish Labour , the big energy companies and the unions to “secure a future for every oil or gas worker’s future” Critics of Tory pitch to max out’ North Sea oil claim it is part of a culture war framing what will only result in workers being stranded in a declining industry.

More than 200 small businesses published a letter backing the campaign and calling on Labour to spell out exactly where the jobs will come from.

60 leading climate organisations including Greenpeace UK , Friends of the Earth England , Wales and Northern Ireland signed an open letter calling for a “clear and funded” transition plan for workers and communities reliant on the oil and gas industry.