{"id":335697,"date":"2026-04-17T18:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/will-iran-war-cause-drilling-in-north-sea-to-ramp-back-up\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T18:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:00:32","slug":"will-iran-war-cause-drilling-in-north-sea-to-ramp-back-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsisc.com\/videos\/will-iran-war-cause-drilling-in-north-sea-to-ramp-back-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Iran war cause drilling in North Sea to ramp back up?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/G2sxHwUO13Q\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Will Iran war cause drilling in North Sea to ramp back up?\"><br \/> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G2sxHwUO13Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p>With global energy markets in turmoil and Scottish voters facing spiralling bills, SNP leader John Swinney says the arguments around North Sea drilling have \u201cchanged\u201d and he is now open to new oil and gas exploration off Scotland\u2019s coast.<\/p>\n<p>It is a remarkable turnaround for a party that spent the last five years making the opposite case.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe arguments I think that have changed in recent weeks have been about the reliability and the security of energy supply, which brings in further considerations that have to be taken into account,\u201d Swinney told ITV News.<\/p>\n<p>He wants energy policy devolved from Westminster to Holyrood after the election, and insists any new project would still face a \u201cclimate compatibility test\u201d before winning SNP backing. But he now concedes it may be better for the environment, as well as for energy security, to produce oil and gas in the North Sea rather than rely on imports shipped from overseas.<\/p>\n<p>The spiralling cost of energy bills, while Scotland sits above some of the largest untapped reserves in Europe, has also played a part in his political recalculation.<\/p>\n<p>But his shift is all the more striking given how strongly the SNP felt about this just a few years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Under Nicola Sturgeon, the party grew increasingly hostile to the oil and gas industry. When the UK government approved the Cambo oil field, Sturgeon urged Boris Johnson to reconsider. When Rosebank was approved in September 2023, she described it as the \u201cgreatest act of environmental vandalism\u201d of her lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>Her successor, Humza Yousaf, went further still, calling supporters of new North Sea oil and gas production \u201cclimate deniers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>At a climate conference in New York, he also declared his ambition for Scotland to stop being the \u201coil and gas capital\u201d of Europe and become instead its \u201cnet zero capital\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The SNP formally adopted a \u2018presumption against\u2019 policy when it came to new oil and gas development as part of its draft energy strategy.<\/p>\n<p>But the change of heart from the SNP now creates a new problem: the Scottish Greens are furious about it, and Swinney may be relying on their support if he is to become First Minister again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they want the support of the Greens, clearly they need to be a government to tackling the climate emergency,\u201d says Scottish Greens co-leader, Ross Greer.<\/p>\n<p>He adds: \u201cThis isn\u2019t Nicola Sturgeon\u2019s SNP anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SNP is not alone in repositioning, though. Across the political spectrum, the case for new North Sea development is gaining ground.<\/p>\n<p>The Scottish Liberal Democrats went from being ardent opponents to now saying they could see merit in developing new fields at Rosebank and Jackdaw because it may be the &quot;least bad&quot; environmental option while the UK still needs oil and gas.<\/p>\n<p>The Scottish Conservatives have embraced Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cdrill baby drill\u201d stance, pointing to the jobs new fields would create.<\/p>\n<p>Reform argue the UK\u2019s emissions are too small globally to justify holding back while relying on imports.<\/p>\n<p>Even Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has broken from his own party, urging Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to approve new licences.<\/p>\n<p>The decision on North Sea licensing remains reserved to Westminster, meaning Holyrood cannot act unilaterally regardless of who wins in Scotland. But the direction of political travel could not be clearer in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>The two fields at the centre of this debate are Rosebank, west of Shetland, and Jackdaw, east of Aberdeen.<\/p>\n<p>Rosebank is the largest untapped oilfield in Britain, estimated to hold around 300 million barrels of recoverable reserves over a lifespan of roughly 25 years.<\/p>\n<p>Oil is sold on international markets, and so new oil fields in Britain are unlikely to have any impact on household bills, but the UK can generate significant revenue from production.<\/p>\n<p>Gas is different: it is not traded internationally and can be kept within the UK. If Jackdaw is approved, the gas from this field could be pumped to the mainland and heating British homes by this winter.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http:\/\/bit.ly\/2lOHmNj<br \/>\n\u2022 Get breaking news and more stories at http:\/\/www.itv.com\/news<\/p>\n<p>Follow ITV News on TikTok https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@itvnews?lang=en<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Instagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/itvnews\/<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/itvnews\/<br \/>\nFollow ITV News on X: https:\/\/twitter.com\/itvnews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With global energy markets in turmoil and Scottish voters facing spiralling bills, SNP leader John Swinney says the arguments around North Sea drilling have \u201cchanged\u201d and he is now open to new oil and gas exploration off Scotland\u2019s coast. It is a remarkable turnaround for a party that spent the last five years making the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":335698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128812],"tags":[129193,130677,128994],"actors":[],"class_list":["post-335697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-itv-news","tag-energy","tag-global","tag-with"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Will Iran war cause drilling in North Sea to ramp back up? | News ISC Videos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watch Will Iran war cause drilling in North Sea to ramp back up? for free, here on News ISC. 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