ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners in Scotland reacted furiously after a profiteering energy company acquired the licence for a controversial new North Sea oilfield.

Ithaca Energy has taken over the firm licenced to exploit the Cambo oilfield off the west coast of Shetland.

The government has not yet given final permission to exploit the field’s resources but says it will support renewed exploitation, despite its proclaimed commitment to developing renewable resources to meet environmental targets.

Ithaca Energy chief executive Alan Bruce said oilfields were “a huge opportunity to not only help secure the UK’s energy future for at least another quarter of a century but also to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the process.”

But Greenpeace UK oil and gas campaigner Philip Evans warned: “Don’t be fooled by this red herring.

“Cambo’s oil won’t improve UK energy security, since the kind that can be extracted from this field can’t be processed in UK refineries. Claims to the contrary are simply lies.

“Emboldened by the UK government’s reckless decision to green-light more oil and gas extraction, fossil fuel companies will continue to profit under this pretence unless the government reverses its plans to maximise extraction.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland climate campaigner Caroline Rance said: “It doesn’t matter which profiteering fossil fuel company has their name on the Cambo licence, it doesn’t change the facts about this doomed oilfield.

“Exploiting Cambo will do nothing for soaring energy bills, but it will further risk our collective safety by worsening climate change.”

A Scottish government spokesman said: “We have consistently called on the UK government to urgently re-assess all approved oil licences where drilling has not yet commenced against our climate commitments.”