A north-east MSP has called on the UK Government to take a stake in threatened offshore oil fields as a way of preserving jobs and future revenues.
Labour energy spokesman Lewis Macdonald said if elected to power in May the party should use UK resources to protect Scottish jobs and businesses.
The idea is the latest put forward by Labour to protect the north-east economy from the impact of oil prices that have fallen more than 50% from a high of $110 a barrel last year.
The party has also called on the Scottish Government to set up a resilience fund to allow councils to draw on emergency cash to counter the negative effect of low oil prices on local economies.
Last month Labour-led Aberdeen City Council organised an emergency summit to deal with the crisis which has resulted in oil-related companies laying off staff.
The SNP wants the Chancellor to introduce tax cuts for the oil industry in next week’s budget. But Labour believes the UK Government should go further and use its powers to keep oil flowing from marginal fields in the North Sea which become too expensive to operate.
Mr Macdonald told Labour’s one-day conference in Edinburgh at the weekend: “Most oil-producing countries have state oil companies working alongside the private sector, sharing the profits and sharing the risks. We do not, because Margaret Thatcher sold off Britoil along with everything else thirty years ago.
“But what we can do now is take a stake in offshore fields where they are at risk of early decommissioning, where if it’s left to the private sector on its own jobs and revenues could be lost.
“Addressing market failure is something we can do if we have a Labour government, using the resources of the whole UK to protect jobs and businesses here in Scotland.
“Supporting the resilience of local economies is something a Labour Scottish Government can do, working with local Labour councils like the city of Aberdeen.”