 Os yna, mae'r ystafell ymgymru o matei herfyrdd ni todos fwy o'r nameau Dolfith Patrick ym ammysgol i gyd. Felly mae'r ystafell ymgymru i'r amser cyffin? Ta chi'n bryd arwadwyr i ymgwrdd fel hyn, meddygiadau cydecaeth arwadwyr i ddim yn ddim pengyrch a gwnaeth yn ddifesio i ddim yn ddim yn ddigwydd, ma Keith? Are we all agreed?" I have attended the offshore Europe conference last week. My reflection from that event is that it shared determination within the industry to collaborate and overcome the current challenges that are made more difficult by the low oil price. It should not compromise safety. As Lord Cullen remarked in his speech to the Piper 25 conference in 2013, the industry must never forget to be afraid. Felly, y Rydda Llywodraeth Econol yn gyfodol yw'r hoffaeth sydd ffordd y byddai i'n hyfforddiad. Mae'r ffordd ei ddweud, oherwydd y trofyniwch y bwysig, o'r reilio cyfodol o'r cael eu cyflol iawn o'r ffordd o'r adegau yw'r ancyffredig. Second, annual production is expected to rise for the first time in 15 years. In my engagement with the industry, I am encouraged by some of the great work that is going on. For example, I have met the new chief executive of Statoil to discuss the Mariner project, Philippe Gies of Total to discuss Lagan and Tormor and MERSC to learn about their Caleen project as well as Trevor Garlic of BP, who are taking forward both Clare and E-Tap. However, job losses remain a huge concern. The First Minister took decisive action on this by setting up the energy jobs task force. The task force will be publishing its latest updated report shortly, but I want to share some of the action taken so far. It is engaged with more than 1,700 individuals and more than 100 employers to help those affected to move into new employment, new ventures or training. Much of the support, including one-to-one redundancy support for 1,300 people, has been delivered through the PACE programme. The task force is also considered structural challenges, making cost efficiency a priority and looking at best practice from other sectors as well as considering challenges around leadership. This has led to initiatives that will lay the foundations for improvements across a wide range of action areas. Examples include a ground-breaking cross-sector workshop attended by more than 70 industry leaders in Aberdeen in May and led by BP's Trevor Garlic and Andy Samuel, chief executive of the oil and gas authority. Five business events over the last six months in Aberdeen for over 200 delegates covering topics such as financial resilience and leadership through change. A business start-up programme with 13 new businesses in the north-east. I am grateful to Dr Lena Wilson and her team for the work that they have undertaken, which has made a significant difference. However, further action is required. The oil and gas authority has an important role to play in improving stewardship of the North Sea. I met Andy Samuel again last week and he gave me an update in progress. I support the work that Andy Samuel and his team are doing at the OGA and reaffirm our commitment to playing a constructive part. I am pleased that they have accepted the principle of total value added in their work, which the Scottish Government put forward last year. The OGA has made protecting critical infrastructure and avoiding early decommissioning a priority. It is imperative, Presiding Officer, that so-called production hubs are not decommissioned prematurely. I completely agree with that approach. There is still plenty to come from the North Sea. Oil and gas UK estimates that there could be up to 22,000 million barrels of oil remaining. Statoil's CEO believes that there are opportunities evidenced by their massive investment in the 250 million barrel mariner project, with possibly Bressie to follow. Decommissioning will provide opportunities for our supply chain, but we need to think creatively to maximise opportunities for Scotland, whilst at the same time taking all steps to avoid premature cessation of production. Critical infrastructure must be protected to stop a domino effect of fields being decommissioned unnecessarily. That means having the right businesses with the right skills and resources to manage late-life assets. That, in turn, requires the optimum fiscal environment. Whilst we welcome the introduction of a base and wide investment allowance and reduction of headline rates in the March and July budgets, that was a missed opportunity to commit to the wider fiscal reform needed. To drive further reforms, decisions on fiscal policy should be underpinned by the principle of maximising economic recovery. The Scottish Government has supported the MER strategy from the start, and we argued for that approach indeed long before the UK Government. First, in our oil and gas strategy in 2012, and then in maximising the returns from oil and gas reports in 2013. I believe that decisions on fiscal policy should also be underpinned by the principle of maximising economic recovery. The MER policy will only work if the UK explicitly commits to using their fiscal levers appropriately. Without that, the operators will simply invest elsewhere. I therefore call on the UK Government to consider ways to make this as strong a statutory commitment as possible. There are also remain a number of specific reforms that must be addressed with urgency. Ten months ago, the UK Government committed to undertake further work on the fiscal incentives for exploration, infrastructure and late-life assets. We still await a consultation on all of those issues. Discoveries such as the OGUK economic report indicates that only seven exploration wells have been drilled in the first half of this year, a record low. That underlines the urgency of incentivising exploration. I completely agree with Statoil's chief executive, Eldar Sertre, who commented two months ago that it is important that the Government continue to look at ways to incentivise the industry for exploration, because it all starts with exploration. That the UK Government has delayed for 10 months is a failure and shows lack of urgency. We also need the correct policies to ensure that new investment happens. There are a range of exciting discoveries waiting to be developed, such as Rosebank, Bentley and many others. Discoveries such as that will require a collaborative approach and the right incentives, but they will also require a stable fiscal environment, not subject to damaging tax rates like in 2011. I would therefore reiterate the call made by the First Minister in June in Aberdeen that it is imperative that the UK Government commits to no tax rises during the lifetime of the UK Parliament and that any significant policy proposals will be consulted upon with industry and the OGA. Finally, innovation remains of paramount importance. I have met more than 200 innovative companies during the past five years. On Tuesday, just last week, I launched the new Plexus Wellhead solution, which provides a new technological solution for deep-water high-temperature drillings. We must continue to harness that excellence and expertise. In conclusion, the only gas sector in Scotland has succeeded over the past 40 years and can, with the right policies, continue to succeed over the next 40 years and the Scottish Government will continue to support it. Thank you. The minister will now take questions on issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we now move on to the next site of business. It would be helpful for members who wish to ask a question or to press the request now. I thank the minister for advance sight of his statement. I am glad that the minister like me went to offshore Europe in Aberdeen last week, and I am glad that he agreed to make a statement today. I am disappointed that he had so little to say today about the impact of the oil jobs crisis on the wider Scottish economy. The energy jobs task force, of course, is very welcome. I am glad that it is to continue its work, but the minister will recognise that engaging with 1,700 individuals, offering 1-to-1 redundancy support to 1,300 people, touches only the tip of the iceberg, when so many more people have already lost their jobs. Oil and gas UK's economic report last week estimated that there are 65,000 fewer people in the oil and gas industry and the supply chain compared with the start of last year. A scale of job losses across the UK comparable with the run-down of coal or steel a generation ago. Many thousands of those jobs have been lost in the north-east, many thousands more have been lost in the supply chain across Scotland and thousands more may well be lost in the months to come. Will the Scottish Government therefore now carry out a full assessment of the oil jobs crisis in every constituency and region of Scotland to lay the basis for action to mitigate its economic impact? Will the Scottish Government now take action to help those businesses across the country, which are struggling precisely because oil and gas producers are cutting back their costs by £2 billion by the end of next year? Will ministers agree to work with supply chain companies to help them to find new markets for their products and services at home and abroad and to protect jobs across Scotland? In response to the questions that Lewis MacDonald raised, it is correct to recognise, first of all, that the work that Dr Lena Wilson has been doing in leading the task force has achieved several things. It has helped individuals most directly affected and I think that he is aware of that. I think that it has reached out to 16 or 1700 individuals at the pace events, the best-attended pace events that there have ever been. I remind members that the successive pace partnership action for continuing employment is marked at 72 per cent of people who have made redundant within Scotland and found other opportunities, jobs within six months. As far as the general question is concerned about estimating impact, we have estimated the impact, and so has the oil and gas UK, as it has referred to, at 6,000 direct job losses. Oil and gas UK's estimates of the induced jobs are based on a 15 per cent estimate of the total jobs in the sector. We absolutely accept that there has been huge impacts by the downturn, but we would also point, when he refers to the position in Scotland as a whole, to the fact that employment in Scotland is higher than the rest of the UK. I think that that is in part because of the economic strategy pursued by the Scottish Government of focusing on innovation, internationalisation, fairness and economic growth. That is work that Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Isles Enterprise and SDI are delivering throughout Scotland day in, day out. We are absolutely not complacent. I have already outlined the main planks of work that has been achieved by Lina Wilson and the industry working together. On the wider Scottish stage, our enterprise agencies and ourselves have, I believe, stepped up to the challenges facing the Scottish economy. The downturn on the oil price is one of the major ones. We have done so in a way that has been both appropriate and effective. When I learned yesterday that the statement had been scheduled, I wondered why it was being made. I really expected that the Scottish Government would have something new to tell us, but having listened to the minister, I am none the wiser. The UK Government has taken steps to help the oil and gas industry, with substantial tax changes that have been warmly welcomed by the sector, and are already showing dividends. Rather than complaining about our other Government, why cannot the minister tell us what new steps he will take to support jobs in the industry and the supply chain? Secondly, Scotland's Conservative MP Ian Duncan has raised in the European Parliament concerns about the impact of a new EU commission planning brief on hydrocarbons, exploration and production, which could add extra costs to the industry and is causing concern. Does the Scottish Government share those concerns? If so, what action is it taking? First of all, I am well aware of the request by the EU for not a brief but a brief, F-B-R-E-F. I have already written to the UK Government indicating that we do not believe that the case has been made out for the necessity for that. To respond to the main thrust of the remarks, why are we here today? We are here to make a statement today substantially because the Labour Party requested that we make a statement. It is appropriate that the Government responds to reasonable requests made by Opposition parties. It is called democracy and accountability, so that is why I am here today. However, he is entirely wrong when he said that we had nothing new to say. If he had listened more carefully to the statement, he would have heard that I have referred very clearly indeed to the need for the UK Government when it is amending its legislation on MERUK to ensure that, as part of that, there is, as I outlined in the statement, an explicit pledge on the part of the UK Government to use fiscal levers to do that. If they do not, I would suggest that Murdo Fraser should have a very good read at Sir Ian Wood's report on MERUK, because he points out that, if we do not take action to prevent premature cessation of production, especially in production hubs, the consequences for the UK checker could be absolutely catastrophic. Sir Ian outlined the price as an additional £200 billion, admittedly at last year's prices. Equally, the penalty is exactly the same amount unless the UK Government rises to the challenge. Murdo Fraser, being an intelligent sort of guy, once he has the opportunity to re-read my statement, will see that there is an very important and new reasonable call on the UK Government to work with us to maximise the economic recovery and thereby do the very best possible thing to preserve and protect the supply chain and jobs in the oil and gas sector. I point out to members that we are extremely tight for time all afternoon, so I would appreciate it very much if we have short answers and short questions and short answers, so Mark McDonald will fall by Sarah Boyle. The oil and gas industry is supported by a significant supply chain, which includes many small and medium-sized companies. Can the minister outline what support the Scottish Government is able to give those businesses to enable them to take advantages of opportunities outside of Scotland to support the industry across the world? Mr McDonald is exactly right. The backbone of the oil and gas industry is several hundred SMEs that are providing cutting-edge engineering, drilling, sub-sea solutions worldwide. I have had the opportunity to see that at three visits to Houston, to Norway and elsewhere. The industry in Scotland is hugely respected, as Mark McDonald knows. The Scottish Enterprise, SDI and HIE helped those businesses in a number of ways. First of all, they helped them internationalise. Secondly, they helped them through access to global Scots. 100 interviews were conducted by Global Scots during my last visit to Houston, mostly with SMEs. Thirdly, they provided an account management system, which most SMEs that I have spoken to in the oil and gas industry cannot praise highly enough in helping open doors, access markets and ascertain how to learn from others not to make mistakes in doing business in new locations. SESDI and HIE are playing a blinder in the practical work that they do for SMEs, and long may it continue. Given the importance of skills for the future of the industry, have any apprenticeships been lost in the industry in the wider supply chain? How many apprenticeships is the Scottish Government directly supporting? What assessment has been carried out of the risk to the future of apprenticeships? What plans does the Scottish Government have to ensure that we have sufficient apprenticeships across the industry and the supply industries? That is an extremely important question, and we absolutely share the member's sentiments on that. We have enhanced the Adopt and Apprenticeship scheme, which was launched by SDS on 16 February. I can tell Sarah Boyack that, of the 22 apprentices, unfortunately made redundant, 17 have already secured alternative employment. 12 of them supported through the Adopt and Apprenticeship scheme, and SDS is continuing to support the remaining five. The First Minister outlined when she announced that the task force was to carry out the work that our absolute priority is to help apprentices. After all, I think that there are few things more callous than the laying off of an apprentice whilst he or she is undertaking his training. To be fair to the industry, despite the difficulties, almost every single business that I have met has expressed the view that those sentiments expressed by the First Minister are absolutely correct. To ask the Scottish Government what update it has received over the potential production figures for the significant Clear Ridge oil field west of Shetland, and what interim report it has received of any with regard to the current geological exercise re-exploration on further potential oil finds off the west coast of Scotland and the Atlantic margins? The Clear project is one of the largest ever in Scotland. It is a giant field. It is, according to BP, likely to continue in production until 2055. That is 40 years hence. It is also located in a region where there are a great many other fields. That particular project is a terrific success story. It should also be remarked upon that its excellence relates to the high level of technological skill that is being brought to bear in that particular project. That is a feature of a great number of the new projects. His second question is that we are mindful of the opportunities of new discoveries around our shores. Chick Brody has made a bit of a campaign of ensuring that we do not neglect to examine whatever opportunities there may be in the west coast. Perhaps, through his industry, there were recently a group of leading academic experts in geology who visited Scotland and with whom I engaged in dynamic earth across the road, specifically to look at west coast opportunities. We are, I believe, having an event or forum in which those can be taken further forward. Nobody thought 60 years ago that there was any oil around our shores at all, how wrong they were, and therefore there may well be substantial new discoveries on the west coast of Scotland. Mr Ewing accepts that consistent lower oil prices at levels below production costs in the North Sea put the long-term viability of oil fields, pipelines and processing at risk. Would he therefore acknowledge the need for the industry, both Governments and the OGA, to redouble efforts to find a range of creative solutions that extend the lifetime of the UK continental shelf and protect the thousands of jobs in the industry and the supply chain, including many at Sulembrough in Shetland and at Flota in my own Orkney constituency? I agree with the sentiment expressed by Liam McArthur. We cannot control the oil price, nor can the UK Government. Bob Keillor wrote a piece in the P&J recently saying that he cannot control the oil price, nor predict what it is going to be. What industry can do and what they are doing is adapting to the challenges, reducing costs, but also moving beyond that into attitudinal change as to how to get the best. One example of one operator is increased wrench time by 30-40 per cent offshore by listening to its workforce as to how best to organise matters offshore. I think that that is a good practical example. It is imperative that, if the price is to say around the current level that the industry responds to that change, the impression that I got in Aberdeen, Ms McArthur, was that it is indeed responding to that change and that it is viewing matters positively, although there are very serious challenges still in the next year or so ahead. The minister mentioned the work of the energy jobs task force. What if the minister could expand on the statement in terms of the work that they are currently doing and the work that they expect to do in the near future? Yes, I can. The task force has met monthly since it was formed, chaired by Dr Lena Wilson. It has reached out to a huge number of people within the industry. The report that I alluded to, which will be published shortly, will highlight case studies of people who have found jobs as a direct result of the work that it has done, but it is also looking at balanced messaging, because it is necessary to promote, as Mr Robertson most certainly does, the truth that this is an industry that has got a very successful future ahead of it, as well as an extremely successful past. Therefore, the task force is aiming to do that as well, as indeed I do in those statements. We join with the Scottish Government in supporting further tax incentives for the industry, but has the minister done any analysis of cost and will he publish it? Given that the tax revenue from oil is at an all-time low, much less than was assumed by the SNP in their white paper, will the minister tell us how much tax he is prepared to forego to help the industry? I am very pleased to hear that the official Labour position is that we should recognise the reduction of cost as a requirement for the oil and gas industry. I was in a state of, not entirely certainty, in the light of the election of the new leader at the weekend, who previously has, I believe, expressed views that the industry should be nationalised. Were there to be any mention of that, then the future of the E&P companies, which is challenged at the moment, would be dire indeed. What I can say regarding the cost of tax measures is that the exploration tax credit system that Norway brought in and which led to the discovery of the £1.8 billion barrel Johann Sverdrup fuel has actually, although it pays in effect for 78 per cent of the cost of exploration, brought in several billion pounds extra. In other words, the right tax regime doesn't cost it brings in revenue. That is why Norway has got an oil and gas fund, which is an excess of £500 billion, while the UK has got an oil fund of zero. I thank the minister for the statement. I was as well official Europe last week, and I am quite happy to report that there were a lot of new things happening in the industry. I will ask the minister if he agrees that the oil and gas workforce is very much getting younger and now a lot more women are in senior positions, and that all that offshore Europe are becoming confident that the industry will come out of the present challenges, leaner, more resilient and more diverse than ever before. Yes, I have been very keen to try to promote in every possible way gender equality within the oil and gas industry, and I have attended many events with that purpose in mind. There is an organisation of females who work within the oil and gas industry. Of course, only a relatively small minority of the jobs are offshore, but of course females work offshore and do the job just as well. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to restate that. We will continue to press for progress. After all, some say that the oil and gas industry continue to neglect around about one-half of the population far too often. I am grateful for the advance copy of the statement and I am surprised that it contains no hint of recognition of the downsides of the fossil fuel industry, either the environmental destruction that it is driving or the economic vulnerability that comes from our over-reliance on an unsustainable industry. However, how can the minister come to Parliament with a statement titled, Future Prosperity for the North Sea and have literally not one word to say about the transition to marine renewables that can generate prosperity without destroying the life support system that we all depend on? That statement is about the oil and gas industry, but if Mr Harvey cares to come along this evening or Thursday, he can hear me talk about the renewables industry. I know that Mr Harvey is very passionate about fossil fuels and we know his position. I must admit that I was surprised to see that there seemed to be some difference of opinion within the Green Party when I read that Mr Robin Harper apparently thinks that the circumstances in which hydraulic fracturing would be a good idea. Although we see a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in Scotland, we see actual political fracturing within the Green Party. Planning for the future surely is important today that the minister gives details of how the Scottish Government is specifically working to support the development of transferable skills for marine renewables for wind turbines when the oil rigs also do finally get decommissioned to ensure that those opportunities go to Scottish workers. I believe that we should be seeing a plan now. I think that we recognise that workers, whether from Scotland or other parts of the world, are welcome to play a part. Although, obviously, our efforts are on people who live in Scotland and that is the objective to which our efforts are primarily devoted. With regard to the offshore industry, of course we support this. We have left no stone unturned in doing so, and we hope that Beatrice, Morrow, Inchcape, Sea Green and Norton will agree that we will go ahead. Sadly, the power on that rests entirely with the UK Government. Instead of seeing progress with the EMR and the announcement of the second round of strike prices, instead of seeing an energy policy that goes beyond £220, we have seen dithering, delay and prevarication. What appears to be an out-and-out attack on renewables by the UK Government? In his statement, he talked about maximising economic recovery. Can he tell us what expectations he has that we may see a UK policy on that subject anytime soon? How is he going to help them? I hesitate to speak for the UK Government. I am not sure that I would be their 90s spokesperson. However, it is abundantly clear from anyone who has studied the Serene Wood's final report—here it is, I have it here, and I reread parts of it in the last couple of days—that there is one fundamental truth that has not been acknowledged by the UK Government, and that is this. If we are to achieve the objective of maximising economic recovery, that means that the UK Government must step up to its role of using fiscal policy as a lever, nay a precision tool, to get the maximum from the North Sea. It must therefore make a commitment in the energy bill or the infrastructure bill that is going through the UK Parliament at the current time to do that. Now, they have not done so yet, Presiding Officer, but I hope that, after this statement, they will begin to think very seriously. If they do not collaborate, why should they expect industry to collaborate? We will be pursuing this argument vigorously in Westminster with our MPs and here in Scotland, so that we do achieve the best for the industry and thereby secure tens of thousands of jobs in this country. I apologise to two members—I simply could not call that we need to move on to next item of business, which is a debate on motion number 14245, in the name of Hamza Yousaf, on responding to global