A stark new report from the North Sea Transition Taskforce has warned that Britain risks losing tens of thousands more skilled North Sea oil and gas workers before emerging low-carbon energy industries are ready to absorb them. The Taskforce’s ‘One Year On’ report, released on 22 September 2026, found that UK oil and gas activity is declining at a faster pace than the growth of offshore wind, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and other emerging industries needed to deliver the energy transition.<\/p>\n
According to the report, the oil and gas sector currently supports approximately 115,000 jobs directly and through the UK supply chain. However, an estimated 25,000 jobs have already been lost since the last UK general election, with the impact concentrated in the north-east of Scotland, where roughly one in four working people is employed in or supports the offshore energy industry \u2014 approximately 80% of which remains tied to oil and gas.<\/p>\n
The Taskforce, backed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC), acknowledged some progress over the past year, including through the UK Government’s North Sea Future Plan. However, it warned that policies on skills and planning have been ‘announced rather than delivered,’ putting existing capabilities, investment and supply-chain capacity at risk. The report underscores the growing tension between the UK’s legally binding net-zero targets and the practical realities of managing a just transition for the country’s longstanding oil and gas workforce.<\/p>\n
To address the widening gap between fossil-fuel decline and low-carbon industry growth, the Taskforce is calling on the UK government to end the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) and introduce the proposed Oil and Gas Revenue Levy beginning in 2027-28 rather than 2030. It also urged the Scottish government to finalize its Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, and to coordinate economic and skills strategies for the north-east of Scotland as the region’s offshore energy industry undergoes a fundamental transformation.<\/p>\n
The North Sea has long been a cornerstone of the UK’s energy security and economic prosperity, but the accelerating decline of mature producing fields is now colliding with policy ambitions to ramp up CCS, hydrogen, and offshore wind. Industry observers note that without a carefully managed transition, the UK risks not only job losses but also losing the specialized engineering and operational expertise needed to execute the very projects \u2014 such as carbon storage in depleted reservoirs \u2014 that are central to the country’s net-zero strategy.<\/p>\n
The report serves as a critical reality check as policymakers, energy companies and trade unions grapple with how to sequence the exit from oil and gas production while building out the replacement industries. The Taskforce’s findings are expected to intensify pressure on both Westminster and Holyrood to deliver concrete action on skills funding, planning reform, and fiscal policy, with the future of one of the UK’s most strategically important industrial workforces hanging in the balance.<\/p>\n
Key entities:<\/strong> North Sea Transition Taskforce, UK government, North Sea, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, offshore wind, Energy Profits Levy, Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, British Chambers of Commerce, Scottish government<\/p>\n