Kate Forbes, the former SNP deputy first minister, has piled pressure on First Minister John Swinney by branding opposition to new North Sea oil and gas drilling "irrational". Speaking to the Sunday Times, she argued it made no sense for the UK to import environmentally damaging oil and gas while refusing to exploit its own reserves, warning of a "grave risk" of ending up with neither adequate fossil fuels nor renewables during the energy transition. Her comments increase pressure on Swinney to give clearer backing to projects such as the Jackdaw gas field, which the UK Government is expected to rule on within the week.

Despite this, Swinney continued to avoid a firm commitment when questioned on the BBC's The Sunday Show, saying any decision on Jackdaw must rest on a legal assessment of its climate impact, while acknowledging Scotland already imports oil and gas that may carry a higher carbon footprint than domestic extraction. This marks only a slight softening from the SNP's previous "presumption against" new licences introduced under Nicola Sturgeon. Scottish Conservative MP Douglas Lumsden accused Swinney of "playing to both sides" and called on him to "unequivocally" back new drilling, arguing oil and gas workers would not be fooled by his stance.