TYCOON Sir Ian Wood’s claim that it would be “absolutely crazy” for the UK to stop drilling for oil has drawn criticism from the Scottish Government and a former first minister, who said abandoning the North Sea would be a "betrayal" of the workforce.

Wood told BBC Scotland that if oil and gas production ended earlier than planned, 71,000 jobs in Scotland would be lost.

“If we don't have our own oil and gas we'll have to import it because we just don't have any other resources,” he said. “And if we import it we'll have more potent gas and we'll do more damage to the environment – it would be, frankly, absolutely crazy. It would be detrimental, environmentally.”

However, a Scottish Government spokesperson said it remained committed to ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change by 2045 in a way that left nobody behind.

“That is why the First Minister has called for a four nations summit to be convened in order to discuss how we can work together, both in the run up to Cop26 and beyond, to ensure that we provide clear leadership to ensure a just transition to net zero that does not repeat the mistakes of the past,” they said.

“The IPCC’s most recent scientific report only serves to underline how important it is that we take significant, near-term action in response to the climate emergency – for this and future generations.”

They said Nicola Sturgeon had called on the UK Government to urgently re-assess all approved oil licences where drilling had not yet started, against our climate commitments.

The oil and gas sector had a “positive role” to play in our journey to net zero, the spokesperson stated, adding: “Indeed, we are clear that the North Sea has a vibrant future in renewable energy, hydrogen, and carbon capture utilisation and storage.

“Meeting our climate obligations while ensuring a secure energy supply and supporting our highly skilled workforce to transition to the green jobs of the future must all go hand in hand.

“We will continue to work closely with industry, trade unions, communities and workers to ensure the right skills and training are in place to protect and create jobs as we become a net-zero economy.”

Alba Party leader Alex Salmond insisted the North Sea had been “one of the greatest wasted resources in the history of humanity”, which had seen Scotland’s oil wealth squandered for decades on “obscenities such as illegal wars and weapons of mass destruction”.

The former first minister said the climate emergency had rightly taken centre stage as the greatest issue the world had to confront.

“As First Minister, I first took control of climate change legislation from Westminster and then took the tough and controversial decisions to secure Scotland’s renewables future like building the Beauly-Denny transmission line, and licensing onshore and offshore wind projects like the Aberdeen Demonstrator,” he said.

“If it hadn’t been for Westminster perfidy, we would already have the world’s first commercial hydrogen power station in Peterhead and proof positive that North Sea development can be both clean and green.

“However, the future of North Sea, the communities it benefits, the jobs it supports, and the economic advantage to Scotland merits much more serious consideration than what currently looks like student politics masquerading as coalition building.”

Salmond said it was perfectly possible to reconcile hydrocarbon development with a zero carbon future, and added: “Abandoning the North Sea would be a betrayal of the workforce and used by opponents to damage the independence case which for many decades has focussed on developing our country’s huge natural resources.

“Dodging the debate by leaving it to Westminster is even worse, sending out the debilitating message that Scotland is not capable of taking the big decisions for ourselves.

“Securing a just transition requires a lot more than sound bites, but rather a thought out plan on how to protect the jobs we have, build on the economic benefits we have gained and use the unrivalled expertise of a world energy capital to lead in offshore renewables.”