Odd Job Inflation?

The UK government repeatedly say North Sea oil and gas exploration 'supports' 200,000 'British' jobs. This figure was given to them by the petrochemical industry's own Offshore Energy UK. This 200,000 figure amalgamates 'direct, indirect and induced jobs'. The Office for National Statistics estimates that only 27,600 UK workers are directly employed extracting fossil fuels from the North Sea. There must, consequently, be an extraordinary number of 'indirect and induced' jobs in the 200,000 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/25/mps-and-activists-challenge-claim-north-sea-oil-gas-industry-supports-200000-jobs). 'Big oil' might well have indulged in 'creative accounting', to inflate its apparent importance to the UK economy. More oil and gas extraction, means even higher profits for them. The UK government have accepted the 200,000 figure, without carrying out checks on its accuracy. Could they be looking for any old reason to ignore environmental concerns? Another attack on the 'green crap'?