North Sea Decommissioning Tipped at £75 billion
The windfall from dismantling redundant oil platforms in the North Sea has been tipped to reach £75 billion.
The GMB union said oil decommissioning will create thousands of jobs for the north-east, but added the Scottish Government must ramp up its efforts to ensure Scotland does not miss out.
Dundee is ideally placed to capitalise on the industry because of its deep water port, proximity to North Sea rigs and its skilled workforce.
Union official Alan Ritchie valued the industry at between £50 billion to £75 billion, but is concerned that much of that will be lost overseas.
He said it was “terrible” that Scotland had missed out on the decommissioning of an installation from the Brent oil field to Hartlepool.
“We have been raising the issue about decommissioning for well over a year,” he said.
“We have been saying to the Scottish Government that we should be making preparations and getting the industry geared up so we are not behind everyone else, but there does not seem to be the impetus.
“The first one going to the north of England strikes a fear that the rest of the rigs could be going the same way.
“The areas of Dundee and Fife should be big winners. They have the skilled staff that the industry needs and we do not want to be in a situation where we lose these skills.”
He said he feared the trade being shipped out to Europe and Asia and issued a warning over safety issues if the lowest bidders were to win the contracts.
Labour MSP Jenny Marra has lambasted the situation where oil platforms are “sailing past” Dundee and other Scottish ports to be decommissioned in England. Patrick Harvie, the joint leader of the Scottish Greens, said Scotland must “accelerate activity” in oil decommissioning, which should be “our principal focus”.
Nicola Sturgeon said the matter is in hand and warned against prematurely giving up on the industry when there are billions of barrels of oil and gas still to be extracted from the North Sea.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said they are “committed to investing in the necessary infrastructure to support decommissioning activity in Scotland. Through our enterprise agencies we are providing practical support to our supply chain to take advantage of decommissioning opportunities,” she said.
