Plans for Cambo oilfield development put on hold

FOLLOWING Shell’s decision to pull out of the controversial Cambo oilfield last week, developer Siccar Point Energy has said it is pausing the project.

Shell – which had a 30% stake in the oilfield – announced last week that the investment was uneconomic and that it was pulling out of the plans to develop the 170m boe oilfield in the North Sea.

Siccar Point – which owns the remaining 70% – has now said that it is pausing the project. Speaking to the BBC, Jonathan Roger, CEO of Siccar Point, said: "We are pausing the development while we evaluate next steps. We continue to believe Cambo is a robust project that can play an important part of the UK's energy security, providing homegrown energy supply and reducing carbon-intensive imports, whilst supporting a just transition.”

Tommy Vickerstaff, UK Campaigner at 350.org said: “The pause on the Cambo project shows that as well as being dangerous for the climate, these projects are continuously economically unviable. Whilst the industry is determined to squeeze as much money out of these dying industries as possible, we need to know what the plan is for workers in these fields. We need to see real, concrete investment in retraining and good jobs for these workers.”