The UK risks losing thousands of skilled North Sea workers and essential industrial capabilities before emerging clean energy sectors are ready to absorb them, according to a major report published this week.
The report, North Sea Transition Taskforce: One Year On, highlights a critical timing mismatch: traditional offshore oil and gas operations are declining at a faster rate than offshore wind, carbon capture, and hydrogen industries are growing. For geoscientists, reservoir engineers, and offshore technicians, this gap threatens the retention of the exact subsurface expertise and supply chains required to build future low-carbon energy systems.
Recent figures illustrate the scale of the challenge. The report notes that 25,000 jobs have been lost since the 2024 election, though the oil and gas sector still supports 115,000 jobs directly and indirectly across the UK. The regional impact is particularly severe in the North-east of Scotland, where one in four working people supports the offshore energy industry. Approximately 80% of that regional activity remains rooted in oil and gas.
Backed by the British Chambers of Commerce and the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the Taskforce is urging the UK Government to provide immediate fiscal certainty to bridge this transition. The report’s primary recommendation is to end the Energy Profits Levy early and introduce the proposed Oil and Gas Revenue Levy by 2027-28 rather than waiting until 2030. Industry analysis cited by the Taskforce suggests this accelerated timeline could unlock up to £50 billion in private investment and £13 billion in tax revenues over the next decade.
Philip Rycroft, Chair of the Taskforce, emphasised that the window to manage this transition is narrowing considerably. He cautioned that if the gap between traditional energy decline and new energy expansion is allowed to widen further, the industry will lose skilled professionals, businesses, and infrastructure that cannot easily be recreated when emerging sectors are finally ready to scale.
Ultimately, the Taskforce concludes that the UK’s choice is not between hydrocarbons and a clean energy future, but between a managed transition that protects industrial capabilities and a disorderly decline that squanders vital geo-engineering talent.
Read the full report.
