(WO) – Two of the UK energy sector’s most influential figures—Sir Ian Wood and Martin Gilbert—issued a blunt warning this week that the UK risks losing its world-class North Sea workforce and critical offshore capabilities unless the government reverses what they describe as a “punitive” fiscal regime.
In a joint statement, the former Wood Group and Aberdeen Asset Management chiefs said the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), or windfall tax, is accelerating an exodus of investment from the UK continental shelf, undermining both energy security and the workforce required to build out future offshore renewables.
“The North East’s world-class skills base is in serious jeopardy of being lost if decisive action is not taken,” Wood and Gilbert wrote. “Right now, we are losing companies—and the people they employ—at an alarming rate.”
The leaders said the region remains ideally positioned to help commercialize large-scale offshore renewables in the coming decades, but only if a strong upstream ecosystem remains intact. They argued that, despite continued long-term demand for oil and gas, current UK policy is pushing operators away while increasing reliance on higher-carbon imports.
“Put bluntly, the current position is economically and environmentally incoherent,” the statement said.
Ahead of the upcoming Budget, Wood and Gilbert urged the government to take three immediate steps:
End the windfall tax beginning next financial year
Approve shovel-ready UKCS projects in the coming weeks
Reverse the current ban on new oil and gas licensing
They assert these measures would provide a boost to UK economic growth, reinforce energy security, and deliver a “fair and just transition” for the region’s workforce.
“We must act now,” they concluded.
