North Sea oil majors to spend more on UK wind than fossil fuels

North Sea oil majors to spend more on UK wind than fossil fuels

The biggest North Sea majors are set to invest more in the region’s wind power in the coming years than in its oil and gas.

Shell, TotalEnergies and BP, which won rights to develop wind farms off Scotland this week, are shifting their spending priorities as they retreat from the aging oil province amid the accelerating energy transition.

“Even before the ScotWind round, TotalEnergies was set to spend more over the next few years on offshore wind than on oil and gas development in the UK,” said Norman Valentine, a research director at consultant Wood Mackenzie. “BP’s capital investment in UK offshore wind was also set to eclipse oil and gas by mid-decade even without its new ScotWind projects.”