£2billion boost to North Sea oil and gas industry
THE value of North Sea oil and gas has risen for the first time in five years – with income up by £2billion.
Official statistics show oil and gas production in Scotland was around 74.7million tons of oil equivalent in 2016-17, up 2.9 per cent on the previous year.
The figure represents 82 per cent of UK production and is at its highest level since 2011-12.
The approximate sales value was £17.5billion, up 15.2 per cent from £15.2billion in 2015-16.
Despite the improvement, critics accused the SNP Government of responding to the previous slump in production and prices as ‘half-hearted’.
Statisticians attributed the rise in production revenues to the increase in production and a rise in prices in the first quarter of 2017.
Operating expenditure, excluding decommissioning, was estimated to be £5.9billion, similar to the previous year despite the
‘SNP response has been half-hearted’
increase in production. Capital expenditure was down from £10.1billion to about £8billion.
Scottish Labour economy spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘It is welcome that these figures show small signs of recovery in the oil and gas industry but the SNP’s response to the crisis has been half-hearted at best.
‘Thousands of people have lost their jobs but the SNP has failed to properly respond because to do so would be to admit what everyone in Scotland now knows – the Nationalists’ case for independence was built on fantasy economics that would have left Scotland poorer.’
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse claimed the country’s oil and gas industry has a ‘bright future’. He said: ‘These figures show that confidence is continuing to return to the sector after a number of challenging years.
‘I do recognise that this remains a difficult time for the industry and its workforce, and the Programme for Government launched last week clearly outlines that, even in the context of our low carbon transition, harnessing the resources of the North Sea will be vital to the Scottish economy for decades to come.’