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BP CEO Bob Dudley said yesterday:
This focus on standardization, simplification and discipline on cost has contributed to our average production costs in the North Sea coming down from a peak of over $30 a barrel in 2014, to less than $15 a barrel today. Heading towards 2020, with all our major new developments coming into production, we expect that to come down below $12 a barrel in the North Sea.’
North Sea oil for November is trading at around $55 dollars per barrel so that means billions in profits are being made yet little is being paid in tax and, of course, none of it is going into a fund for the Scottish people.
This explains how Goldman Sachs could say on August 5th this year:
‘Oil majors are raking in more cash now than they did in the heyday of $100 oil, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Integrated giants like BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have adapted to lower prices by cutting costs and improving operations, analysts at the bank including Michele Della Vigna said in a research note Wednesday. European majors made more cash during the first half of this year, when Brent averaged $52/bbl, than they did in the first half of 2014 when prices were $109.’
The Goldman Sachs statement did catch me off guard at the time but I see it now.
https://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/15098/bp-chief-says-north-sea-costs-are-15-per-barrel/
The message is clear. How many more do the Scottish people need to get these opinion polls showing confidence in independence?
Talking-up Scotland 