North Sea workers and businesses are being urged to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling on the UK Government to approve the Rosebank oilfield before Christmas.
The letter welcomes the Prime Minister's recent decision to give the green light to the Jackdaw gasfield, describing it as the best news the industry has received in years, but warns that further action is urgently needed to restore confidence, protect jobs and unlock investment.
It calls on the Government to apply the same pragmatic approach to Rosebank, which could support thousands of jobs, generate billions of pounds of economic activity and deliver significant tax revenues.
The letter states:
Dear Prime Minister,
For thousands of people working in the North Sea, your government's decision to give the green light to Jackdaw was the best news we have had in years.
We want to thank you for it. And ask you to go one step further.
The North Sea has been through incredibly difficult years. Thousands of jobs have been lost, companies have pulled out, investment has slowed down and businesses that supported our industry for generations have closed. Behind every job lost is a family, a community and skills Britain cannot afford to throw away.
That is why Jackdaw matters. It will create and protect 300 good jobs, support thousands more across the supply chain, strengthen our energy security and deliver billions of pounds of value to the UK economy.
But for us, it means something more.?It gives us hope that the North Sea still has a future.
Your government faced an important early test of its approach to our industry. You made the right call and deserve credit for it. You recognised that Britain will need oil and gas for decades to come, even as we build up renewables, and that producing energy at home makes more sense than relying increasingly on imports.
There is something deeply wrong with a situation where British workers can travel halfway around the world to produce oil and gas that we then import back to the UK, but cannot do that same work in our own waters. Importing energy while exporting our jobs makes no sense.
Now we ask you to apply that same common sense to Rosebank.
Rosebank is an even bigger opportunity: thousands of jobs, billions in investment, more work for UK businesses and significant tax revenues for public services and the energy transition.
We recognise it is a larger project, with a larger emissions footprint that must be properly considered. But so too must its greater economic benefits and contribution to our energy security. We believe the same balanced, pragmatic approach taken with Jackdaw should lead to a positive decision on Rosebank.
We are proud to produce the energy that keeps Britain moving. And we want to help build its cleaner energy future. But?the transition must create jobs, not destroy existing ones in the hope that something else comes along.?We cannot build tomorrow's energy industries by abandoning today's workforce.
Prime Minister, Jackdaw was a huge step in the right direction. Rosebank can take us further and show workers and communities across the UK that their jobs, skills and futures matter.
Our request is simple: give Rosebank the green light before Christmas.
If you do, you will have the North Sea workforce four-square behind you.
Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce is encouraging everyone whose job, business or community depends on the North Sea to add their name to the letter and help demonstrate the strength of support for Rosebank.
With a decision on the development still outstanding, the Chamber believes it is vital that the voices of the people who work in the industry are heard loud and clear in Westminster.
Source: Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce
