Ministers have faced cross party pressure to announce further measures to help the oil and gas industry after a dramatic drop in the price of crude.
Liberal Democrat Lord Bruce of Bennachie warned that the industry was probably facing its “worst ever crisis” and called on the Government to scrap the supplementary charge on oil companies.
“This industry has provided tens of billions of pounds of investment and hundreds of thousands of jobs for many decades,” he told peers at question time.
“Will the Government ensure that their action plan enables this industry to continue to do that for many decades into the future.”
Energy and Climate Change minister Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth said the Chancellor would consider representations “on the fiscal front”.
He said it wasn’t all “doom and gloom” and Bob Dudley, chief executive of BP, had said the North Sea remained viable economically and would be for decades to come.
Tory former chancellor Lord Lawson of Blaby said the North Sea oil and gas industry had had “a glorious past” but warned: “Its future could only be a shadow of what it has been.”
Lord Lawson said the future of Britain’s indigenous oil and gas industry must lie with the “exploitation” of quite substantial shale deposits. He urged ministers to press ahead with this as fast as they could.
Lord Bourne said Lord Lawson had a distinguished record as a former energy secretary but added: “I don’t think it’s true to say the oil industry is entering a period where its significance can be diminished. It’s certainly perhaps not what it was but it’s still of enormous importance.”
The minister said he was right about the importance of shale and the Government was determined to go ahead with exploration in this field.