The Scottish National Party (SNP) is pressing the UK government to channel oil and gas tax receipts into the Acorn carbon storage project after ministers shifted its remaining grant support toward loans or equity.
The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts £5.1 billion in tax receipts from oil and gas production in the 2026-27 fiscal year. That projection includes the Rosebank field and future discoveries that have not been approved. A government decision on Rosebank is still pending.
The Independent reported the SNP’s appeal. SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said revenue from Scotland’s oil and gas resources should be invested in Scotland, starting with Acorn. He accused the UK government of collecting that revenue while reducing grant support for the project.
At the last spending review, the government awarded £200 million in grants for Acorn, UK Energy Minister Martin McCluskey said Sunday. Developers have already drawn down some of the money and will keep it, he said. The rest of that support, along with any further government funding, would take the form of loans or equity rather than grants.
McCluskey said a government stake could provide a return to taxpayers. He also cited the need to shift spending toward the defence investment plan. The government has changed its approach to carbon capture and storage programs elsewhere in the UK as well, stopping some of them, he said.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney said he was “deeply concerned” about the funding change. The dispute follows Swinney’s earlier call for energy fund investment in northeast Scotland, where Acorn is based.
Acorn plans to store emissions from across Scotland beneath the North Sea seabed. The Independent reported a peak employment estimate of about 15,000 for the project.
McCluskey said Acorn’s developers would put forward proposals ahead of discussions he expects to hold with them later this week.
