The SNP is demanding that the Treasury's North Sea receipts be used to fund the Acorn carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire, after the Budget turned a £200m grant commitment into loans or an equity stake.
PA reports that the Chancellor, John Healey, changed the grant so that the UK Government now offers the same amount in loans or equity. The demand comes from Dave Doogan, the SNP's Westminster leader.
The SNP says the Treasury's total oil and gas receipts for the next year come to £5.1bn. PA's headline gives the figure as £5bn. The claim has not been independently checked.
Energy minister Martin McCluskey defended the change on Sunday 1 November as reprioritisation to fund defence. He said money already drawn down by the developers stays in place, but the remainder and any future support will be loans and equity, not grant.
"We awarded £200 million in grant funding at the last spending review"
McCluskey said a number of UK carbon capture programmes have been stopped, not just moved to loans and equity. He added: "We want that project to succeed, and the developers who I'm speaking to later this week will come forward with proposals, and that funding is on the table."
PA says Acorn could support about 15,000 jobs at its peak.