North Sea pays a heavy price as UK fails to rise to economic challenge of our times

The story since then has largely been one of decline. Production levels are down 75 per cent on 1999, while 2025-26 revenues totalled £3.9bn – still a lot of money, but much less than before.

However, amid the gloom was an apparent source of hope, with renewable energy technologies offering a chance to create a new, world-leading industry.

READ MORE: Window closing for Scotland to lead world on floating offshore wind amid 'cumulative risks'

‘Significant challenges and uncertainties’

Offshore wind and floating wind turbines needed a workforce skilled in marine engineering. So, the theory went, this could form the basis for a ‘just transition’ in which oil workers would find new jobs.

Unfortunately, the warning signs that this ambition was overly optimistic and that governments of all political stripes have been failing to create the right conditions to enable this industrial revolution to take off have not been hard to find.

Now Angela Hepworth, chief executive of industry body Scottish Renewables, has said that the sector is facing “significant challenges and uncertainties”, pointing to uncertainty about grid connections, transmission charges, and delays in the planning system.

READ MORE: Record price for diesel demonstrates why North Sea oil and decarbonising our economy are both vital

Five years ago, after Scotland “signalled its ambition for floating offshore wind”, it created global interest, Hepworth said. But she warned there was now “a time-limited opportunity to build on the expertise of the oil and gas sector and create the green economy of the future”.

Meanwhile, despite warm words about helping Grangemouth recover from the loss of its oil refinery, the UK government seems to have gone worryingly quiet. A sum of £200 million was promised but has not, as yet, been forthcoming and now we learn that local MSPs who have written to ministers have been ignored.

This is the economic challenge of our times, and we must rise to it. Swift action is required, to slow the rate of decline in the oil and gas industry and accelerate the development of renewables. Ministers can’t watch from the sidelines as people lose their livelihoods or allow the country to miss a historic opportunity because of planning red tape.