Headlining across the UK news as bad for consumers but down the page:
With the oil price teetering on the brink of $100 a barrel and retailers keen to pass on the increase in wholesale fuel quickly, new records could now be set on a daily basis in the coming weeks. Fuel prices at the pump are driven largely by the wholesale price of energy which has shot up due to tensions over whether Russia will invade Ukraine. On Monday, oil prices hit their highest level since 2014, reaching $95.56 a barrel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60375568
2014? Wait, wasn’t this below, the line then, months before the referendum vote?
In 2014, BBC News told us authoritively:
Russia has more than 50 years of oil, more than 100 years of gas and more than 500 years of coal left, on current consumption. By contrast, Britain has just 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal and three years of its own gas remaining.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27435624?ocid=socialflow_twitter
So, the oil has magically reappeared and is very near to its 2014 price of £98.97?
So, our gas ran out in 2017 yet we’re still producing 4 times what Scotland can use?
Makes you wonder if you can trust UK Government reports.
How is BBC Scotland reporting this news for our oil industry?
Clearly not in the public interest.
Talking-up Scotland 
Yep and the ‘North sea oil’ is actually Scottish, unlike the Tory, Labour and Libdems parties in Scotland. Honestly I can hardly bear to read about Scotland’s stolen oil, the revenues stolen are in the £TRILLIONS, it’s just heartbreaking. Scotland has been so scammed, it’s time to reject the scammers and take what’s Scotland’s for the good of Scotland, ditch oil in as much as it can be transitioned, and invest much more in renewables. That will never happen while shackled to the cesspit UK though, simple really.
I suspect the oil worth is going to be used against Scotland in the next indy ref, they are going to rub the potential oil revenues in Scotland’s face.
The BritNats won’t say it’s running out and decommission viable rigs like they did in the run up to the 2014 referendum. Oh no, quite the opposite, they will say, look what you could have Scotland, except it’s dirty and you can’t extract it or take the £trillions yet to be taken because you are so greeeeen, and gonna be soooo poor and put thousands on the dole, lolz! I do hope the people of Scotland don’t fall for any nonsense about oil this time…
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“Tut, tut!
How could Scotland float a new currency when it would go through the roof? Pair wee Scotia RICH? Hahahaha!
Scotland with a petro-merk?
Nope, Scots NEED to stick with Good ol’ Blighty—they’ll look after your dosh.
London is the very dab to INVEST and PROTECT the Jocko’s cash, just as always.
Good old Uncle City Slicker.
Signed,
Jaikie Greased-Moggie,
Robin B’stard Penthouse,
Empire2 Towers,
Dublin.
The EU.
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This brings back so many unwelcome memories from 2014. I recall
an article published on 20 August 2014 by the Daily Record with the headline ‘Independence referendum: Dwindling North Sea oil supplies would hit Scotland within 15 years, says Sir Ian Wood’.
The final sentence of the article is ‘notable’. It’s not clear if it expresses Wood’s view or the Record journalist’s but it’s worth repeating, perhaps for comedy value, perhaps to provide a salutary lesson.
‘Faced with depleting reserves and costly renewables, an independent Scotland could ultimately be forced to import energy generated from onshore fields from its English neighbour.’
So the proposition being put was that whilst Scotland will be ‘hit’ by dwindling offshore reserves, England – notwithstanding its hugely greater resource requirement and import dependency – will by implication be protected, secure as a result of its own onshore hydrocarbon production!
Were folk in Scotland really so gullible back then as to be influenced to vote ‘no’ by this kind of nonsense? Or was the Record (and/or Wood) so disrespectful to think they might be?
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Thanks Stewart hadn’t seen that one, Scotland would be dependent on England for it’s energy supply, you could hardly make it up, except they did.
Unfortately, people did fall for the lies about Scotland’s oil. I had friends who were Labour voters and more no voter than yes, who said ‘aye but the oil’s dirty’, in other way, no use to an independent Scotland. I had neighbours who just more or less at the metion of oil, no voters, and friends in NE England who said when indepednece was mentioned, ‘what’ll yees dee withoot the oil like?’ The whole myth and lies about Scotland’s supposed reliance on oil, raking in £trillions while being so incredibly poor was spread right acriss the UK.
I have a book bought after the indy ref, it’s caleed, ‘Balcka dn Green Gold, Aberdeen’s continuing role in the nergy revolution’, 2010 published by the ‘Balmoral Group’, it’s still available to buy, limited edition about £27 online.
The fact is, from 2010 and possibly before, (when SNP gained much ground in taking the reins at Holyrood no doubt) the oil industry in the ‘North Sea’ (Scottish sea) was being tampered with via taxing it highly which led to smaller companies going bust, and viable rigs started to be decommissioned, I wonder why. Remember when some of the oil workers were laid off on full pay and went home to England for a few weeks prior to the indy ref? Also at the time, and I might still have it, there was an ad in I think the Evening Chronicle, (a NE England daily rag) looking for people to join the thriving oil industry in the ‘North East of Scotland, there was even an event held in I think Newcastle at the time, an oil expo type thing I was shocked! Well not really actually.
The bigger oil companies weathered the storm re the tax hikes etc, they would have known what the motives were and how it was a temp measure top thwart independence, they were all in it together for sure. My were they rewarded, they basically do not have to pay tax in the UK at all now far as I know.
I was really surprised though when people in England believed that Scotland was taking £trillions of oil revenues, what the heck did they think Scotland was doing with the money! I am sure my neighbours were led to believe that lie as well.
A massive injustice has been done to Scotland and the people of Scotland, for decades and longer in fact, we can’t allow them to get away with those lies, fabrications and myths touted by the British Nationalist media about any of Scotland’s resources this next indy ref, no way!
Sorry long comment and any typos I should be doing some chores today.
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That’s ‘Black and Green Gold’ in case it’s not obvious…
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Keep them coming, Arty H. I enjoy and agree with almost all all your comments, and you’ve had some crackers recently.
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ABC ( BBC )
Are none other than the colonial state broadcaster who ensure that the master
Bleeds the colony to which they broadcast achieves in main
1.Any resources are very few and not worth much
2.They will run out very soon
3.Throw now again a few crumbs of your
Stolen nutritious delicious cake to keep the restless natives gratefull for the benifits they receive
But now they have a Massive problem
in that most of us Scot,s now well aware of what happened to the 47 Billion barrels of stolen oil
But not this time with regards our valuable renewable resources
Because unlike oil which was off shore and below bedrock well out of sight
Almost everday we invarilbly get soaked
and blown off our feet as nature by the bucket load throws upon us such a bountiful supply to turn into free for ever
highly valuable energy in a rapidly rising expanding market place comprising our neighbours who by the day become ever more desperate to decarbonise with ease
and economically so
A blind and deaf person would even be so aware of this
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What is the London establishment going to use to prop up the Pound now that oil has gone?
I wonder,what might that be?
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bringiton
You enquire as to how Westminster uses to prop.up the £
Well and impossible to calculate is
1.Nuclear weapons
But and exactly why they shall fight tooth and nail to keep Scotland,s chains on
2.Our massive resources to keep funding
Their nuclear capabilities
Lose us then they lose everthing
Why
They cannot afford to build new nuclear power stations to provide weapon grade nuclear material which has to replaced in every war head to guarantee that they will explode,far less the massive costs
In constructing new submarines and a secure new facility from which to operate from
They know such all too well
So such is without doubt our winning Ace in their stupid desperate game
Know thy Foe ( and yourself )
This Ace is ours and entirely of our choosing as when to call their impoverished hand and play it
They are now so weak and impoverished
That they are merely Paper Tigers now internationally, a irrelevance with very few friends
The thing we shall lose are the chains
That bind us to such a inept corrupt and utterly useless colonial ruler
Awa wi Them
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I never tire of watching this! Little England, Great England whatever you wanna call it, tee hee, sorry it’s is quite funny though.
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I remember that interview well, the desperate excuses by the lady in red to quash any thought of Scotland abandoning the UK obvious – However, it was her “whether Scotland could afford to leave” that glared, not the perspective of any economist, but the political construct of GERS.
That this “deficit” line continues to be trotted out by people who must have the intelligence to know it’s actual context, is not ignorance, but gaslighting on an industrial scale.
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Yes that is the perpetual lie trotted out again.
However the response is obviously internationally recognised fact.
“but they don’t have gigantic debts”
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John, these forecasts of when the oil will run out are invariably wrong. McCrone suggests in his report that the North Sea would be done sometime in the mid 1990s. But the daddy of them all is the report in the FCO that Saudi Arabia would be out of oil by some time in the 1930s. Too often the forecaster takes a punt on no/few new discoveries, but invariably there are. For instance, it has been well known for some time that West of Shetland is an interesting place to go looking for oil. The problem was getting it out – but technology is starting to address this. Moreover, new technology has breathed new life into fields thought to be coming toward the end of their productive life. Claire Ridge is one such example. Previously thought to be coming to the end of its useful life, new techniques increased this to 2026, but the most recent production techniques will take it to 2050. And see the above on certainty of forecast lives.
One last thing, following COP26 oil is seen as a bad thing, and burning fossil fuels certainly is. However, there are lots of things that use oil See this https://www.iogp.org/oil-in-everyday-life/. Closing down the fields may be a bit precipitate. Also wind energy and production of oil arent mutually exclusive
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Agreed on oil and gas, there is considerable disinformation in circulation with regard to the climate, even from folks whom I regard as being intelligent, but slogans such as “Net Zero” are not helping.
SG could at least halve emissions in a year by a national insulation program, that’s WAY more an effect than the decades it will take to phase out millions of gas and oil boilers, and only then make alternative heat sources viable.
eg -My gas consumption is 50% down on 2017 on a modern insulated 100m2 house, early indications are that will be 60% in 22/23, all though additional insulation. My combined annual gas and power bills for 2021 was 581 GBP, a pittance compared to what I’ve heard from some on UK forums.
With EU prices rising ca 60%, governments were encouraged to intervene and cushion effects – My actual bills are lower than last year through this, but even when the interventions are phased out, the increase will be pretty painless.
For sure the objective should be to phase out burning fossil fuels, but it would be naive to regard total eradication as either viable or essential, when we can do so much more with less…
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PS – Forgot to highlight there are vast areas currently blocked due to Holy Loch interventions which have long been considered exploitable.
Once that willy-waving monstrosity at Coulport has gone, who knows…
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iamsocerdoc
All the oil companies play a clever game
Which starts straight away as they purchase drilling licences and carries on once a discovery made,then appraisal wells undertaken and all the way through till production passes peak
Why
Because it is fatal to them if they ever overestimate just how much they looking for then discover as to do so would shatter investor confidence in them
The large institutional and the savvy investor know all this
A general rule of thumb is that if the oil company says X barrels
Then multiply by a minium factor of 2
And when they say production will last X years, Then multiply by a factor of at least 2.5
Few people realise just how intrinsically
Linked Energy Shares are so vital to all major stock markets,Governments and Geo politics
And that is a almost insurmountable problem in Global Warming solutions
The biggest clue to understanding oil is this
A 200 ltr barrel of all oil contains the equivalent energy as 26500 able bodied men would expend working hard for a full 8 hr shift
And tell me where do you find 26500 men willing to do so and share equally
90 $ between them for a full days work
Once you comprehend this the you really begin to understand Oil
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iamsoccerdoc
I ommited to add at end of my reply
” And the Norwegians were lucky enough
To have key Government Ministers and Snr.Civil Servants who realised all i spoke of
Hence today 1.2 Trillion $ sovereignty oil fund, and Scotland robbed blind to fund Westminster follies.Oh yes Westminster
Also knew all I speak off but wrong thoughts,greed,self interest and gross mismanagement are the result today and the position Scotland finds itself in
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Oil & Gas taxes and revenues will be in £Billions. UK Gov takes half of production. Tax 20% corporation tax + 10% supplementary.
In 2008 $100 dollars a barrel. UK Gov took £12Billion in revenues and taxes. Might be a bit lower now but still colossal. Scotland also produces £Billions in revenues in renewables. Increased £3Billion. Taxes and revenues produced in Scotland increased £3Billion (renewables) from £63Billion to £66Billion.
Without Westminster colossal mismanagement and interference. Scotland would be so much better Independent. In or out of the EU. With negotiations, Scotland would be much better Independent. No illegal wars, Trident. No repayment on debts not borrowed or spent in Scotland. Not subsidising London S/E or spending on HS2, Hickley Point etc. Scotland not allowed to borrow for growth. Scotland would be more prosperous, equal and fair. More happy and cohesive. The UK the most unequal place in the world.
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Decommissioning of rigs is on going because of new technology. Worldwide offshore extraction is going on by vast massive adapted tankers. They move from place to place as wherever they are needed. Enormous, vast production vessels. At the start the Oil was extracted per oil tanker vessels. It is being expanded again on a larger scale by vast tanker methods. Worldwide for offshore methods. More cost affective than building more rigs.
There are still pipelines flowing in the North Sea. From Peterhead to outside Edinburgh. Thatcher tried to get it to Newcastle but it was too far for the expense. The Oil companies were paying for it. Thatcher and the UK Gov illegally and secretly took all the revenues and funded London S/E. Tilbury Docks 26miles. Canary Wharf. Funded the fraudulent bankers who funded the Tory Party. Brown took £Billions of Oil revenues. Lost it all in the banking crash.
Scotland was left in poverty paying off the debts not accrued in Scotland.
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