Aberdeen is probably best known for three things: oil, gas and Sir Alex Ferguson.
In the 1980s, just as black gold transformed the fortunes of the city, Fergie turned our provincial football club into the kings of Europe, defeating Bayern Munich and then Real Madrid to win the UEFA Cup Winners Cup.
He understood the value of a star player. The one with the proven track record who delivers under pressure. The one who – when firing on all cylinders – lifts the whole team and changes the game.
For the UK economy, that player is Aberdeen and the North Sea.
For over five decades, the city and it has underpinned energy security, sustained world-class supply chains, and helped to contribute over £400billion in tax revenues.
And with the right conditions, oil and gas could generate an additional £350billion in gross value added in the decades ahead, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and delivering exactly the kind of economic growth that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking for.
Yet right now, we’re benching our best player.
The British economy is stagnating, and it is no coincidence that Aberdeen is projected to experience the slowest economic growth among UK cities between 2025 and 2028.
Investment in the North Sea – the lifeblood of our economy – is stalling. Major operators are pulling out or scaling back. Supply chains are under pressure. Skilled workers are drifting elsewhere. A region that should be leading the UK's energy transition is instead needlessly wrestling with uncertainty and instability.
At the heart of the problem is a lack of clarity and fairness for an industry which supports 200,000 jobs.
The Energy Profits Levy, introduced as a short-term response to the energy crisis, has become a long-term drag on investment. While we tax our domestic oil and gas production at 78%, we wave in more carbon intensive imports tax free; all in the name of net zero.
The result has been a fiscal regime that looks arbitrary to investors and increasingly uncompetitive on the global stage.
Add to this a slow-moving regulatory environment, delayed grid connections, and stalled renewable projects - and you have the makings of a squandered opportunity.
This is not a nostalgic plea to extend the age of oil and gas. Nor is it a call to ignore climate commitments. It's a case for managing the overlap - ensuring that the decline of fossil fuels is matched by the rise of clean alternatives, with no gap in between.
If we fail to manage that transition properly, the UK will lose not just jobs and revenue, but also the industrial capacity and skills that are critical to building our renewable future. In football terms, we risk substituting our playmaker before the new signing has even passed the medical.
But we can still get a result. Today, the North Sea Transition Taskforce reports its findings and presents both the UK and Scottish governments with an opportunity to change tactics.
It has pulled together trade unions, international sustainability organisations, supply chain businesses, academics and energy policy experts to deliver the widest possible consensus on the right way forward.
The report seeks a stable, proportionate and predictable tax regime — one that adjusts with market conditions, supports long-term investment and gives operators confidence to stay in the UK.
It also maps out how pace can be injected into the rollout of renewables, especially offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture, to unlock stalled projects and get capital moving.
Above all, it seeks the creation of a single, coherent plan for the North Sea transition, one which spans governments and aligns fiscal, regulatory and infrastructure decisions around a common objective.
There is still time to get this right, but we are in the dying minutes – or ‘Fergie Time’, as it has become known.
If Rachel Reeves wants to deliver growth, she doesn’t need to look far. She already has a star player - proven, experienced, and ready to perform.
The question now is whether the government puts it back on the pitch and gives it the support it needs to win.
Ryan Crighton is Policy Director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, which represents 1,300 member businesses in the North-east of Scotland.