Oil & Gas UK has welcomed today’s report: ‘Delivering UK Energy Investment 2014′ from the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), as a useful contribution to the debate around the future of the oil and gas industry.

Malcolm Webb, Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, said: “As the biggest investor in the UK’s energy security, now and throughout the last three decades, the offshore oil and gas industry welcomes Government’s acknowledgement of the essential role oil and gas play in our country’s energy mix. Oil and gas provides some 70 per cent of our country’s total energy demand – a figure which DECC predicts will remain unchanged until at least 2030.

“We are also heartened that the report recognises the contribution the industry makes through supporting the employment of some 450,000 people here in the UK.

“As the report outlines, the UK’s energy mix is more than simply our supply of electricity. Whilst natural gas is currently used to generate about a quarter of our electricity, it is also the overwhelmingly our source for heating, as is oil for our transport.

“As the UK’s leading trade body for the offshore oil and gas sector, Oil & Gas UK recognises the need, over time, to move towards a lower-carbon economy. However, this transition must be managed carefully and will take decades not years to complete. Our industry will be needed to provide the foundations for that journey.”