Tam's Tall Tales
- Aberdeen Summit on Oil.
Graphic of oil rig off Burntisland in Fife by Simon Johnston via Wikimedia..
Aberdeen Summit on Oil.
Oil is big business in Aberdeen and the sharp downturn in the oil price has led to some serious questions being asked about the future of the sector in Scotland
Aberdeen City Council has announced plans for an 'oil summit'
Aberdeen Council's leader Jenny Laing said the UK and Scottish governments, trade unions and industry bodies needed "to get round the table as soon as possible".
The Labour councillor said a "strategic plan" was required to save jobs as the price of oil continued to fall.
Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex, told the BBC that the industry was "close to collapse". He claimed almost no new projects in the North Sea were profitable with oil below $60 a barrel.
However, Sir Ian Wood, another leading industry figure, said Mr Allan's warning was "well over-the-top and far too dramatic".
Sir Ian predicted conditions would begin to recover in 2015.
In the meantime, motorists are enjoying seeing the price of fuel for their vehicles dropping after years of steeply rising prices. It is being predicted that the price of a litre of petrol could fall below £1 in the next few months for the first time in many years. Of course those who thought during the Independence Referendum debate that the oil prices used by the Nationalists had been too optimistic feel vindicated. But that doesn't stop the SNP government from blaming the London-based government for not amending the tax regime to encourage investment in the North Sea. Some things never change....
Please give me whatever feedback comes to mind via tamfromrampant@gmail.com.
Tam O'Ranter
May 2014Return to Tam O'Ranter Index
