Exclusive:SNP Aberdeen South candidate backs Rosebank and Jackdaw in 'oil and gas by-election'

Richard Thomson said “it makes no sense” to import oil and gas from abroad “when we could produce it at a lower environmental cost” from the North Sea.

The former Gordon MP is standing to replace ex-SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn after he was elected to Holyrood last month.

Rosebank is 80 miles to the west of Shetland. It contains around 300 million barrels of oil, making it the UK's last major undeveloped oil site.

Jackdaw is a large offshore gas field 150 miles east of Aberdeen.

The UK Government has delayed giving the two projects the go-ahead.

SNP First Minister John Swinney softened the Scottish Government’s stance on new oil and gas before the election.

He previously backed a presumption against new projects - but has since said that energy security should be considered.

When asked if this was an oil and gas by-election, Mr Thomson said: “Absolutely. The issues that are coming up are oil and gas, the future of the the energy industry in Aberdeen and the North East more generally, and also the cost of living crisis.

“In many ways the two are are interlinked. But it's quite clear that people have got concerns about the about the economic future of the city, and it's quite clear that the world has changed in the last few years with the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz.

“I think people now understand quite clearly that an energy transition has to be just that, and that it's important that we are able to produce as much of our own energy, not just for our energy security, but also our economic security.

“While three three quarters of our energy needs are being met by oil and gas, it makes no sense to be importing carbon intensive fuels from other parts of the world, when we could produce it at a lower environmental cost and with great, far greater economic benefit on our doorstep, and keep people in work.”

Mr Thomson was SNP MP for Gordon between 2019 and 2024. He stood in the newly formed Gordon and Buchan seat at the general election but was beaten by the Tories’ Harriet Cross.

Asked if he wanted Rosebank and Jackdaw to go ahead, Mr Thomson said: “Yes. Jackdaw is subject to meeting the climate compatibility checks.

“And Jackdaw was approved in 2022 but precisely because the Conservative government at the time didn't do their own checks - that they introduced - properly, that's why it ended up getting tangled up in a judicial review in court.

“I'm very clear that if we can produce energy at a lower environmental impact than importing from elsewhere, then we should be producing all that we can to help fill that gap.

“That's good for the environment, instead of importing very, very carbon-intensive fuels like LNG from Qatar.

“So it's better for the environment, and it's also better for our economy, and helps us have that bridge to the future, which we know will be where our energy needs will be filled predominantly by electricity generated, I would hope, from from renewables in Scotland.”

The Aberdeen South by-election takes place on June 18.

Mr Thomson is standing against Tory MSP Douglas Lumsden, Labour’s Nurul Hoque Ali, Reform UK’s Jo Hart, the Green’s Jorg Shelton-Eckstein, the Lib Dems Mel Sullivan and David Ballantine from the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom.

The Scottish Government said that its position on Rosebank and Jackdaw had not changed.