UK: Minister Ewing to Speak at DecomWorld Conference

With exactly a year to go before the historic vote on Scottish independence, DecomWorld has announced that Scotland’s energy minister, Fergus Ewing, will deliver the keynote address at the 10th annual North Sea Decommissioning conference in December.

He is expected to outline what the industry can expect under an independent Scotland.

The huge bill for decommissioning is certain to play a central part in the debates as the referendum scheduled for 18 September 2014 approaches.

In August the Scottish National Party announced a surprise policy shift, promising that an independent Scotland would shoulder the UK’s commitment to offer £20bn in tax relief to help with the cost of North Sea decommissioning.

Ewing had previously said that the UK had a “moral and certainly a legal obligation to be responsible for decommissioning” because successive UK governments had benefitted from North Sea oil tax revenues.

At the conference, as well as financial considerations, Ewing will set out how an independent Scotland would approach decommissioning regulations and timelines.

Fergus Ewing and Tom Greatrex MP, shadow Energy minister for the Labour Party,will each discuss decommissioning & Scottish Independence at the 10th Annual North Sea Decommissioning conference.

[mappress]

Decomworld, October 16, 2013