An asset for Scotland’s future
North Sea oil and gas represents a huge asset for Scotland. Taking UK government estimates19 for oil price and potential reserves, the total current value of North Sea oil is £1.2 trillion.
This is equivalent to total government spending in Scotland for 22 years. It is an asset worth £230,000 for every man, woman and child in our country.
What Scotland has lost
If Scotland had invested our share of North Sea Oil revenues between 1997 and 2004 in an Oil Fund, and if we assume a similar rate of return to Norway, then Scotland:
• would have made a real rate return of £1.23 billion per year or £9.87 billion in
total.
• would have made a nominal rate (including inflation) of return of £1.72 billion per year or £13.78 billion in total.
Record Oil Revenues will be lost costing us each £2000 - WE MUST ACT NOW
In his most recent financial report18 Gordon Brown forecast twenty-year record high oil revenues for next year and according to the Chancellor, over the six years up to 2010-11 we will see £74 billion in oil and gas revenues – equivalent to £14,000 for each person in Scotland. This past year revenues are forecast to be £9.7 billion, while in the coming year they will reach at least £10.2 billion (but as much as £12 billion on current world oil prices), beaten only by the revenues received in 1984-86 – as shown above: