GMB urges chancellor to cut windfall tax to help avert oil and gas jobs catastrophe

GMB Scotland has urged Rachel Reeves to ease the government’s windfall tax on oil and gas companies to avert looming industrial catastrophe.

GMB Scotland warned the chancellor of calamitous job losses across swathes of the UK because of a rushed and misjudged rundown of offshore production.

The union, one of the biggest across energy sectors, has written to the chancellor claiming this month’s budget will be one of the last opportunities to slow an unfolding industrial disaster offshore and in supply chains.

Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland’s secretary, said the Energy Profits Levy must be reduced to offer urgent reassurance to an uncertain industry “undermined by years of mixed messages.”

She warned the UK Government’s rush to renewables was sacrificing oil and gas workers whose skills and experience would be crucial to deliver a “measured, planned and successful transition.”

Gilmour said: “For decades, oil and gas has been a cornerstone of the Scottish economy and a foundation of the UK’s energy security.

“When an oil rig ceases production, the impact is felt by workers, families and communities around the country.”

The union’s intervention comes amid mounting concern over the future of Scotland’s energy sector following the closure of the Grangemouth refinery. Gilmour lamented the “needless” loss of the country’s only refinery but warned thate economic shock will be dwarfed by the escalating job losses in oil and gas industries.

Citing research from Robert Gordon University, she said as many as 200 oil and gas workers could lose their jobs every week for the next five years and warned the UK Government’s “rushed and self-harming” transition to renewables is sacrificing the skills and experience needed for its success.

She said: “While oil and gas workers are forced to leave the industry or follow work abroad, there is little sign of the renewables jobs meant to replace them, not in the UK at least.

“Every day an oil and gas worker spends out of work is a government failure and there is both an economic and a moral case for action.

“Energy workers must be supported through the transition, not sacrificed to it.”

The Energy Profits Levy — often described as a windfall tax — was introduced in 2022 to capture the soaring profits made by oil and gas companies during the global energy crisis.

However, critics warn the measure is deterring investment and accelerating decline in the North Sea basin and Gilmour said easing the levy would “safeguard jobs and maintain energy security” while ensuring companies have the financial headroom to invest in the energy transition.

ENDS