Wait, there's more

Following the discovery in 2003 of the Buzzard field, Scotland's oil and gas sector, which has played such a major role in our economy since the early 1970s, has effectively doubled its life span, compared to original estimates. Potentially there are still tapped oil supplies in the North Sea equivalent to the 32 billion barrels already extracted.

Today the industry, characterised by a few big firms like Shell and BP and a host of small independent oil companies, accounts for more than 6% of the Scottish workforce, employing over 100,000 people in oil and gas related jobs, the majority in the North East.

The power to succeed

We haven't got to where we are today by resting on our laurels. Building on traditional strengths in mechanical engineering; the industry which now includes over 2000 companies, has had to adapt and broaden its service offering to succeed.

In one generation we've moved from a nation that relied on other countries for much of our specialist knowledge to being globally acknowledged experts, particularly in areas like deep-water technology. In Tayside, for example, many companies are world leaders in their specialist areas, be it power generation, underwater dredging, valves, down hole tools, engineering consultancy, fabrication or rig maintenance.

And it doesn't stop there. To keep the momentum going, the sector ploughs almost 4 billion into industrial investment every year a fifth of the total for the UK as a whole.

Mindful that despite the latest projections, the oil industry in Scotland is still increasingly mature, Scotland's entrepreneurial companies are seeking to broaden their horizons by developing trade markets in Azerbaijan, China, Iran and Nigeria.

Progress on and off the field

Encouraging though it is that supplies are rising to meet the growing world demand for energy, isn't there a downside too? What about the question of emissions from burning fossil fuels? Well perhaps surprisingly, although Britain's offshore industry produces 83% of the country's total primary energy, it accounts for only 3% of the UK's atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, according to the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association. And though traditionally regarded as a 'messy' industry, the actual amount of oil discharged or accidentally spilt as a proportion of production has been steadily reduced over the years in 1996 it came to just 0.0001%. Oil spills, of course, are something else entirely. But here too the industry is making progress, conducting research into single-celled organisms that eat pollutants and convert them into harmless substances.

From the start of an oil field's life to the end, the story is the same. Oil companies investigating whether the noise of seismic rays, used to find oil deposits, also disturbs dolphins or whales have come up with a solution to alter the frequency and timing of seismic surveys and track the animals' movements. But what about decommissioning? Nowadays, most installations are brought to shore and disposed of, recycled or reused. But another exciting possibility, already being tested in the Gulf of Mexico, is to turn some of the rigs into artificial reefs, since marine life is actually attracted to them. It's not just marine life that benefits either. For two days in November 1994, 3000 migrating birds took a 'breather' on the Maureen platform whilst a storm passed.

By developing new ways to reach oil fields further away from each platform, the industry is also reducing the number of new rigs that have to be built. On 1 October 2002, for example, Chevron Texaco announced that the first oil had been achieved from the Alba Extreme South field in the North Sea. Production is from four new sub-sea wells tied back to the Alba Northern Platform, 130 miles north east of Aberdeen.

The future is black . . . hurrah

Boasting Europe's largest oil and natural gas reserves, the North Sea is one of the world's key non-OPEC producing regions. Because of it, the UK's balance of payments is better off and our nation is enriched. Long may it continue!