SNP ministers have been criticised for scrapping a high-profile report on the health of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Launched in March 2013, the government’s Oil and Gas Bulletin was published three times before the 2014 independence referendum, and used as part of the case for a Yes vote.
When it first appeared, then First Minister Alex Salmond said it showed “there can be little doubt that Scotland is moving into a second oil boom”.
However after the No vote and a slump in the global oil price reduced tax revenues to virtually zero, the bulletin was published only once more, in June 2015.
Issued after months of demands from the opposition, the final issue warned of far lower revenues ahead, and was slipped out on the last day before Holyrood’s summer recess.
Labour calls for investigation into "sneaked out" oil report as SNP brands opposition "pathetic"
The UK Statistics Authority has now confirmed the publication has been ditched, and that “no Oil and gas Analytical Bulletin is scheduled for publication” by the Scottish Government.
However it noted ministers had been publishing other oil and energy statistics since June 2015 instead, albeit not with the same fanfare as the oil and gas bulletin.
These included oil and gas production statistics for 2016-17, a recent compendium of energy data, and other economic statistics about Scotland’s oil and gas sector.
Labour accused SNP ministers of trying to "bury their heads in the sand", while the government said the criticism was "ridiculous".
When the Bulletin began, the government said there would be a “series”, focusing on production levels, reserves and “potential future revenues”, and forecast revenues would “remain significant in the years ahead”.
Scottish Labour energy spokesperson Lewis Macdonald said: “This is a disgraceful decision.
“It shows that not only have SNP ministers given up trying to help the oil and gas industry – but they are now actively disowning it.
“In the run up to the independence referendum, Nicola Sturgeon promised oil revenues of £8bn a year – and the SNP government published the Oil and Gas Bulletin twice in 2013 and once in 2014 in support.
“Since the oil price collapse, we have only had one Bulletin – as long ago as 2015. That is simply a disgrace.
“With thousands of jobs lost and the industry still in recovery, we need as much information as possible on the state of the North Sea.
“Instead, Nationalist ministers have decided to bury their heads in the sand in an attempt to avoid a political humiliation.
“The SNP should reverse this decision and start helping the oil and gas industry rather than treating it as a political inconvenience.”
Nicola Sturgeon criticised after failing to publish North Sea oil and gas report for 18 months
A spokesman for Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “This is a ridiculous attack from Labour, who as ever just want to talk down Scotland’s oil and gas industry in a bid to score cheap political points.
“In terms of backing the sector, we are doing everything in our power to support it, but it is the Tory government at Westminster who retain most of the key policy levers when it comes to protecting jobs and investment.
“While there is no bulletin scheduled for publication at present, the requirement for any analytical bulletins is kept under review, and there is already a wealth of other published information on the industry.”
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