In the Press & Journal today:
‘The boss of North Sea oil producer EnQuest said yesterday he believed the region could yield further discoveries to extend its lifespan. Chief executive Amjad Bseisu highlighted last year’s Glendronach gas find by Total – which could pump out the equivalent of about 180 million barrels of oil – as an example of why the industry should not give up on the search for new reserves.’
I know many of you would leave the oil where it is and I have sympathy for that view but my focus, as always, is on the case for independence and we need to remind those like Kay Burley only days ago, that if we need it we have it, in abundance and for decades to come.
It’s been some time since we had a flurry of oil and gas reports. Here are a ‘few’ from just the last 12 months:
How much of UK oil bonus is Scotland’s? How much is it worth? How much tax revenue will we get?
Could we, should we, let England have this new oil and gas field as a going-away present?
Those who know are betting on high prices for Scottish oil in 2019
Another Trillion dollars plus in new oil field West of Shetland
Cameron’s Great Scottish Oilfield Cover-up of 2014
$2 trillion in Scottish oil still to be extracted just from North Sea!
Value of Scottish oil surges to $85pb on way to $100pb in 2019
£30 billion value Scottish oil anticipated from one new field as experienced developer gets involved
Scotland’s Oil surging bullishly toward $100 per barrel
As Scottish oil heads for $100pb will the UK Treasury tax this massive revenue?
High oil prices continue to weaken confidence in Scottish economy
North Sea expected to produce much more oil and revenue than expected
‘Wild West 3D Seismic Survey’ to unlock 320 million barrels of Scottish oil
‘Huge swing in North Sea oil revenues’ suggests tax fiddle
Scottish crude oil value surges to record level in more than 3 years
Wood can’t see the green shoots (of oil recovery) for the trees?
Five reasons why shale oil’s challenge to high prices for Scottish oil is only temporary
Scotland’s oil and gas expertise will aid and earn abroad
Scottish oil surging back toward £100 per barrel and massive Treasury revenue?
Talking-up Scotland 
What the Kay Burley outburst reminded us of is that she is a nasty, arrogant, English-British nationalist who works as a propagandist for a right wing billionaire. She is one of the class of millionaires working for billionaires is the dispensing of mendacious tales.
Despite the eco arguments – and, increasingly, I tend towards them – you are right to continue to publish stories of discoveries in Scottish territorial waters. Firstly, because it is these which underpin the viability of the pound, secondly, the global financial forces via their agents in Westminster, Whitehall and Fleet St (to use the old term) want the revenues for their coffers, and, thirdly, they are an important argument about the economic viability of Scotland. I think that the renewables potential of Scotland (including the territorial waters) will far exceed the value of the hydrocarbons. So, the arguments which I set out above still apply.
Labour, especially the SCALP section in Caledonia, want to colonialise these renewables for the benefit, primarily of England, of which they perceive Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as but minor parts to be given some crumbs.
I am told that Lord Darling of homeflipping is on the board of a bank.
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Thanks for agreeing with the strategy.
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Spot on Alasdair – even the ONS is having to come clean about the scale of Scotland’s contribution to the total UK eco-assets (or ‘natural capital’ if one prefers the term): link (apols – from Evening Express) – and snippets below:
https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/scotland/value-of-scottish-natural-resources-calculated-for-first-time/
Natural resources in Scotland have been valued at one-third of the UK’s total by a groundbreaking new study.
The research, by the Office of National Statistics, examined the value or profit provided by natural resources – such as wind, water, oil and gas – and how they are used.
In 2015, the partial-asset value of Scottish natural capital was estimated to be £273 billion, 34% of the UK as a whole.
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Thanks, I’ll share this widely.
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To note: reference is made to the Glendronach gas field. Despite what the industry spokesperson says, this field is NOT in the mature North Sea oil & gas province that the general public is familiar with – and may discount as ‘old hat’ – but is in the quite different geologically, and less mature, East Atlantic Margin oil & gas province to the west of Shetland.
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Fair point. I forgot.
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