That Shell has decided to pull out of its role in the Cambo oilfield off Shetland has not only raised inevitable doubts about the project’s continued viability and put thousands of jobs at risk, it has shone a harsh light on the energy policies being pursued by both the UK and Scottish governments, whose lack of support played a crucial role in the company’s withdrawal.

Shell has a 30 per cent stake in the oilfield, along with private company Siccar Point Energy, but appears to have been put off by the unrelenting and unequivocal opposition from Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP-dominated government in Edinburgh. The First Minister’s hostility to both oil and gas has only grown in intensity since, in the wake of the last Holyrood election, she struck a coalition deal with the Scottish Greens in order to secure her majority. Now, as even die-hard nationalists come to realise that independence is never likely to be more than a pipe dream, Ms Sturgeon has turned her attention to net zero, striking an increasingly dogmatic tone on climate change and putting the Greens’ co-leader in charge of meeting Scotland’s target.

Where once the First Minister had seemed happy to sit on the fence when it came to the Cambo development – insisting that the ultimate decision was one for the UK Government and abnegating any responsibility – she has more recently evinced outright hostility, not only to that field but to any further exploration in Scottish waters. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson’s approach has scarcely been better, at least from the point of view of those who value this country’s energy security. The Prime Minister’s lack of visible and vocal support for the development of Cambo, which would have produced 170 million barrels of oil and gas (equivalent) over the next 25 years, has been notable.

There are now serious doubts about the future of what is left of Scotland’s oil industry, which employs more than 100,000 people. A more general worry is how realistic is the UK’s target of achieving 100 per cent of our electricity through renewable sources by 2035. In spite of continued exhortations and promises from Ms Sturgeon and Mr Johnson about their shift to greener energy, oil and gas still provide more than 75 per cent of the UK’s total energy needs.

Unless the plan is to let the lights go out, we will continue to need fossil fuels as the transition to green energy progresses. Abandoning British oil and gas would not reduce this country’s reliance on those resources, rather it would simply mean having to meet our needs with imports instead. This risks leaving Britain at the mercy of countries such as Russia and Qatar: powerless if they choose to turn off the taps and all the while lining the pockets of the regimes that run them.