ShareThis

.

.

30 April 2013

Scotland's Oil

The Norwegian oil fund, it was recently reported, rose in value by 13.4% in 2012, meaning it now totals approximately 3.8 trillion Krone, or about £450 billion. Naturally this is a boon for our Nordic neighbours and the fund, which is 40% larger than Norway’s entire national economy, is used to support national development and provide for the future, as one would expect of any country lucky enough to have such vast reserves of oil and gas.

Any country that is, except the UK, which stands alone as the only country with major oil and gas reserves with no oil fund, which demonstrates just how badly wrong Westminster has got it in not investing for the future.

Globally, there are 35 major Sovereign Wealth Funds based on oil and gas resources – illustrating that it is the norm for countries with major oil and gas resources to create a fund for long-term benefit, which makes it all the more surprising that the same never occurred to successive Westminster governments.

Former Secretary of State for Energy Tony Benn himself has said that the oil wealth was “wasted”, while former Labour chancellor Denis Healey wrote in his memoirs that the UK "would have been bankrupt without North Sea oil", which further underlines the mistakes Westminster made in not setting up an oil fund

Meanwhile, Norway’s prosperity shows what could have been had the opportunity for Scotland not been missed almost four decades ago when Westminster failed to invest in an oil fund.

It is both unfortunate, and ironic, that Scotland is not on the list of countries benefitting from an oil fund. However, there is still more value to come from the North Sea than has been extracted to date, and with a Yes vote in next September's referendum we can make our oil wealth work for Scotland's long-term benefit.

We hear the No campaign’s hypocritical rhetoric on Scotland’s oil and gas – they are relentlessly negative about the worth of Scotland controlling our own resources, but praise the levels of investment and value of the North Sea industry to the Westminster exchequer for decades to come.

Last week the UK government admitted that North Sea oil and gas is a booming industry, with Vince Cable conceding that ‘Oil and Gas UK expect production to expand’.

There is a real sense of déjà vu when we think back to the 1970s when Westminster buried the McCrone report – a report that oil and gas would turn Scotland into one of the wealthiest and most financially secure nations on the planet – at the same time as telling us that revenues would be lower than expected and would soon run out. It is true that oil and gas has brought jobs and prosperity to Scotland, but not nearly as much as would be by Scotland accessing the tax revenues. There is still huge potential to be unlocked in North Sea oil and gas but, as history has taught us, this can only be done when Scotland is in charge. We cannot trust Westminster again.

Scotland's finances are consistently stronger than the UK's, over half of the North Sea tax revenues are still to come, and our oil and gas assets are worth up to £1.5 trillion. The Scottish Government’s estimates of oil revenues are consistent with those of the industry, and there is now no doubt that there is a renewed North Sea oil and gas boom underway.

A Yes vote on September 18, 2014 gives Scotland the opportunity to make the next four decades of oil and gas work for Scotland and for future generations.

Stewart Stevenson
does not gather, use or
retain any cookie data.

However Google who publish for us, may do.
fios ZS is a name registered in Scotland for Stewart Stevenson
www.blogger.com www.ourblogtemplates.com


  © Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP