I wonder whether BOOers are looking at the mobilising of the establishment against Scottish Independence and realising that this is likely to be how it goes in 2017?
It would be much, much stronger in an EU referendum. That's why I've always thought an Out result is unattainable.
No, it wouldn't. As was said below, you're not going to get any of the currency nonsense, which is the main thing freaking out companies in Scotland. Trade barriers are very minor in comparison to not having a central bank.
I wonder whether BOOers are looking at the mobilising of the establishment against Scottish Independence and realising that this is likely to be how it goes in 2017?
It would be much, much stronger in an EU referendum. That's why I've always thought an Out result is unattainable.
No, it wouldn't. As was said below, you're not going to get any of the currency nonsense, which is the main thing freaking out companies in Scotland. Trade barriers are very minor in comparison to not having a central bank.
I wonder whether BOOers are looking at the mobilising of the establishment against Scottish Independence and realising that this is likely to be how it goes in 2017?
It would be much, much stronger in an EU referendum. That's why I've always thought an Out result is unattainable.
No, it wouldn't. As was said below, you're not going to get any of the currency nonsense, which is the main thing freaking out companies in Scotland. Trade barriers are very minor in comparison to not having a central bank.
An Out vote would be quite possible - if the Out people were realistic about what Out was. That is being part of the EEA like Norway and still following all the internal market rules. We would not be part of ever closer union and not in the Euro. Bit being 'realistic' means accepting that nothing much would change. The EU would still be there and we would not have a Financial Commissioner - or any Commissioner.
I'm still gobsmacked that UKIP and the BOOers have morphed into some sort of bizarre anti-politics
There is a market for "regular politics is broken, and we're the new broom, and here's some hope right over here, and we're not like the other establishment lot."
In fact it's a huge market: perhaps 20% of the LibDems' 25% was "new politics", Obama rode to power on changing a broken system via a lot of hoping, Le Pen and Grillo ride the anti-establishment wave too.
UKIP is now the party of hope and change and new politics.
And they will continue to be this until they are sullied by the grubby realities of government.
They are a party of protest working to put Labour into power, and they may well succeed in that limited sense.
UKIP are working to gain power.
If we adopted your outlook, no one would ever vote for any party other than the Conservatives or Labour. But that ship has sailed.
Off to Proms in Park tomorrow, hopefully it will be a Unity Rally of some form regardless of what BBC says, remaining DK's just want to know we want them to stay
London would surely have to scale back its financial sector and reapply to join the EU. From an economic perspective though, it's perhaps the UK region that is most out of kilter with the rest.
@Hyufd Salmond was trying to pretend that Scotland was being progressive by letting that cohort vote. Most Western Democracies are very wary of letting them near ballot boxes until they are 18, for reasons which even the SNP might understand.
I'm still gobsmacked that UKIP and the BOOers have morphed into some sort of bizarre anti-politics
There is a market for "regular politics is broken, and we're the new broom, and here's some hope right over here, and we're not like the other establishment lot."
In fact it's a huge market: perhaps 20% of the LibDems' 25% was "new politics", Obama rode to power on changing a broken system via a lot of hoping, Le Pen and Grillo ride the anti-establishment wave too.
UKIP is now the party of hope and change and new politics.
And they will continue to be this until they are sullied by the grubby realities of government.
They are a party of protest working to put Labour into power, and they may well succeed in that limited sense.
as opposed to the Cameroons who are a party of idiots working to put Labour into power.
I will vote for London to be independent. Taxes from the City and good welfare spending. The perfect scenario. The Royal family will be more intensively used to bring in more tourist dollars. Any royal. not performing , their incentives will be cut including withdrawl of honours for a limited period. Like being suspended. Royals doing extra "work" will get their allowances boosted.
People coming in from the Shire counties will need immunisation certificates as they had been close to animals.
London would surely have to scale back its financial sector and reapply to join the EU. From an economic perspective though, it's perhaps the UK region that is most out of kilter with the rest.
Wouldn't it be simplest for London to remain in the EU and the rest of the country to leave?
It depends how much people detest the establishment. If we have several more big scandals, the voters may not listen to a word they say.
It will be all the big employers, all the unions, all the mainstream UK, European and even US politicians, Japanese and other foreign companies, most of the newspapers, and above all the Beeb. Not just politicians.
And the message will be incredibly simple: jobs. Whether it's true or not, that's an incredibly hard one for the Out side to overcome, especially since they have so far shown themselves absolutely hopeless at even beginning to put together the case. I'm still gobsmacked that UKIP and the BOOers have morphed into some sort of bizarre anti-politics, Cameron-hating whingefest group, rather than putting in some serious work to answer all the difficult questions. The Brexit winner paper would have been a good place to start, but: silence.
The EU referendum will have only one result. 67% IN - 33% OUT.
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
And how many live outside London and commute in? An awful lot of the GDP made in London is made by non-Londoners.
Yes; but they can still commute in. Outside of the UK lot's of people commute across borders to go to work. I know many people who live in France but work in Switzerland, and one person who lives in Germany but works in Denmark. I'm sure London would allow people from rUK to work in it.
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
I'm still gobsmacked that UKIP and the BOOers have morphed into some sort of bizarre anti-politics
There is a market for "regular politics is broken, and we're the new broom, and here's some hope right over here, and we're not like the other establishment lot."
In fact it's a huge market: perhaps 20% of the LibDems' 25% was "new politics", Obama rode to power on changing a broken system via a lot of hoping, Le Pen and Grillo ride the anti-establishment wave too.
UKIP is now the party of hope and change and new politics.
And they will continue to be this until they are sullied by the grubby realities of government.
They are a party of protest working to put Labour into power, and they may well succeed in that limited sense.
as opposed to the Cameroons who are a party of idiots working to put Labour into power.
I love the way that so many posters genuinely believe that if Cameron was just to do what they agree with he'd be a shoo in. Always forgetting that large numbers of people think they are talking bollocks.
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
I'm still gobsmacked that UKIP and the BOOers have morphed into some sort of bizarre anti-politics
There is a market for "regular politics is broken, and we're the new broom, and here's some hope right over here, and we're not like the other establishment lot."
In fact it's a huge market: perhaps 20% of the LibDems' 25% was "new politics", Obama rode to power on changing a broken system via a lot of hoping, Le Pen and Grillo ride the anti-establishment wave too.
UKIP is now the party of hope and change and new politics.
And they will continue to be this until they are sullied by the grubby realities of government.
They are a party of protest working to put Labour into power, and they may well succeed in that limited sense.
as opposed to the Cameroons who are a party of idiots working to put Labour into power.
I love the way that so many posters genuinely believe that if Cameron was just to do what they agree with he'd be a shoo in. Always forgetting that large numbers of people think they are talking bollocks.
Cameron is simply an average PM who's not very good at running his party. He probably took the job 10 years too early much like Hague.
Off to Proms in Park tomorrow, hopefully it will be a Unity Rally of some form regardless of what BBC says, remaining DK's just want to know we want them to stay
You should be at Stark's park Kirkcaldy. Real last night of the proms feeling.
I will vote for London to be independent. Taxes from the City and good welfare spending. The perfect scenario. The Royal family will be more intensively used to bring in more tourist dollars. Any royal. not performing , their incentives will be cut including withdrawl of honours for a limited period. Like being suspended. Royals doing extra "work" will get their allowances boosted.
People coming in from the Shire counties will need immunisation certificates as they had been close to animals.
What a great idea. We could build a 50ft wall using the M25 as a foundation all around London to keep you secure in your safe urban environment. You'd be amazed how many of us would be so pleased to ensure you had a secure environment where you could no longer do harm.
So, amidst the Pistorius verdict, Paisley's death and the possible dissolution of the United Kingdom by this time next week, I have some far more significant news to announce.
Got one of those book deal thingummyjigs for Sir Edric's Temple and the follow-up, Sir Edric's Treasure (with Tickety Boo Press). No ETA, but I think next year's possible and 2016 maybe (hoping it's 2015 though).
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
For those that had any doubts, the Better Together A team are on Any Questions tonight. Jim Murphy and Ruth Davidson have been by far the most impressive politicians for their parties in this whole Indy Ref debate. The Scottish Conservatives made the right call when they elected Ruth their Leader.
I will vote for London to be independent. Taxes from the City and good welfare spending. The perfect scenario. The Royal family will be more intensively used to bring in more tourist dollars. Any royal. not performing , their incentives will be cut including withdrawl of honours for a limited period. Like being suspended. Royals doing extra "work" will get their allowances boosted.
People coming in from the Shire counties will need immunisation certificates as they had been close to animals.
What a great idea. We could build a 50ft wall using the M25 as a foundation all around London to keep you secure in your safe urban environment. You'd be amazed how many of us would be so pleased to ensure you had a secure environment where you could no longer do harm.
Sorry. I forgot. Expulsion will take place for anyone opposing runways 3,4,5 for Heathrow. No motor vehicles on Sundays. Cycling compulsary.
For those that had any doubts, the Better Together A team are on Any Questions tonight. Jim Murphy and Ruth Davidson have been by far the most impressive politicians for their parties in this whole Indy Ref debate. The Scottish Conservatives made the right call when they elected Ruth their Leader.
Her "line in the sand" has been well and truly washed away now, though.
Exploration West of Shetlands has been limited so far - mostly by the lack of licences being issued by DECC. There is very large scope for new discoveries and if the initial exploration is anything to go by then I would expect that prediction to be proved correct and then some.
That is not to say I would necessarily bet the future of a country on the likelihood but it is far more than just a guess, educated or otherwise.
Good time to talk about this as this week they just put the topside on the Solan project I have been working on as Wellsite and now Operations Geologist for the last year or so. There will be plenty more such developments WoS in the next few years.
For those that had any doubts, the Better Together A team are on Any Questions tonight. Jim Murphy and Ruth Davidson have been by far the most impressive politicians for their parties in this whole Indy Ref debate. The Scottish Conservatives made the right call when they elected Ruth their Leader.
John Swinney has just admitted that he'd pay for all the goodies in iScotland not by increasing taxes but by *borrowing*.
Davidson is good.
Michelle Thompson leans very heavily towards the Yes camp.
Exploration West of Shetlands has been limited so far - mostly by the lack of licences being issued by DECC. There is very large scope for new discoveries and if the initial exploration is anything to go by then I would expect that prediction to be proved correct and then some.
That is not to say I would necessarily bet the future of a country on the likelihood but it is far more than just a guess, educated or otherwise.
Good time to talk about this as this week they just put the topside on the Solan project I have been working on as Wellsite and now Operations Geologist for the last year or so. There will be plenty more such developments WoS in the next few years.
What's your estimate of the price a barrel needs to be at to be economic in the western fields ?
London would surely have to scale back its financial sector and reapply to join the EU. From an economic perspective though, it's perhaps the UK region that is most out of kilter with the rest.
Wouldn't it be simplest for London to remain in the EU and the rest of the country to leave?
The way the EU is behaving towards the City I suspect it will be more a case of London wanting to leave.
Off to Proms in Park tomorrow, hopefully it will be a Unity Rally of some form regardless of what BBC says, remaining DK's just want to know we want them to stay
Prom on BBC4 now is Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Han-Na Chang (from South Korea). Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov.
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
On immigration UKIP only want to do at a national level what the EU does at a supra national level. What is negative about that.?
UKIP offers an ethos of decentralisation and empowerment bringing power closer to the people by opposing remote elitist institutions like the EU and increasingly Westminster. That you view voter empowerment as a negative says a great deal
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
You seem to answer your own point. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has vision all right, but not much sign of people not perishing on his watch. Ditto Blair, unless you don't count Iraqi civilians. And I bet those Rotherham girls felt more included under New Labour.
Exploration West of Shetlands has been limited so far - mostly by the lack of licences being issued by DECC. There is very large scope for new discoveries and if the initial exploration is anything to go by then I would expect that prediction to be proved correct and then some.
That is not to say I would necessarily bet the future of a country on the likelihood but it is far more than just a guess, educated or otherwise.
Good time to talk about this as this week they just put the topside on the Solan project I have been working on as Wellsite and now Operations Geologist for the last year or so. There will be plenty more such developments WoS in the next few years.
What's your estimate of the price a barrel needs to be at to be economic in the western fields ?
Currently around $60 a barrel. That said, we are now getting to the point now where there are going to be enough platforms in existence that it will be possible to tie back new fields to existing infrastructure - something that massively reduces the cost of development and allows that $/bbl break even point to drop rapidly.
This was what we saw in the North Sea in both the UK and Norway and is now starting to happen in the Barents Sea as well.
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
The simple reality is you are not looking for the positives
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
No, UKIP are in my mind defined by a positive vision. They want to Britain to thrive in the world, not be stuck cowering beneath the skirts of the failing, protectionist backwater that is the EU. It is that very idea of Britain reborn outside the EU that inspires so many of us.
If any party is defined by negativity it is the Lib Dems who consistently put the UK down and try to claim we could not stand on our own feet.
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
That's not a discovery. That's a prediction.
stop disrepecting Scotland
Sorry Alan: "the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
This is a discovery and nomatter how much you would like it not to be the field is there as BP has told us or are they lying to?. There will be plenty more. This is all too easy guys - come on, I thought you Tories were hard-headed business types? Seems it's all bluster and myth with some toffee-nosed condescending nose-in-the-air scoffing learnt at public school passing off as informed. Ok, had my breakfast - off for a pub lunch
BetFair still at 4.85 for YES. Madness: real odds must be much lower. The unionist big guns (quoting the guardian) have been deployed and things are still to-close-to-call. For what its worth, I have a reasonable stake on YES. But I hope its a NO - country and all that ...
Is BlackDouglas on? I'd like to rip into his ridiculous claim that Scotland has a 100 years of oil and gas reserves (and nobody else has any), but I shan't bother if he's not around.
Still around. Although none of what you said above accurately reflects what I said. I said the global easy to extract supplies were falling while untapped sectors in the West of Scotland and in the North Sea were now expecting to come onstream creating a boom. T Indeed RBS recently released a report showing the sector needed 30,000 new workers. That was before recent announcements of huge discoveries. Plus supplied on the West Coast have not been tapped because it would interfere with Trident operations - admitted by Michael Hestletine..
Oh, you can see the 100 years of oil claim in this recent report published in Oil Industry News. My own claim below was far more modest - 50-100years.
Scotland could be sitting on more than double the amount of oil and gas reserves currently predicted, a new independent industry investigation has found.
Ah yes, the dreaded word 'could'.
Let's start off with first principles. UK oil production is currently around 1.2million barrels a day.
To produce this amount for 50 years, your low bound, would require reserves of:
1.2 x 365 x 50 = 22.8bn barrels of oil
The United Kingdom, according to the BP Statistical Review has 3 billion barrels of proven reserves. It is of course *possible* that is all in Scotland, and is out by an order of magnitude. But it is not likely.
You know what: I'll do you a deal. If you can find discoveries in the UK North Sea with more than - oohhh... - say 500m barrels in extractable reserves the last two years then I will give £100 to a charity of your choosing. Of course, to maintain production at 1.2m barrels a day requires that we find almost a billion barrels every two years. So, I'm being incredibly generous in letting you win if you find HALF the level required for your ridiculous claim,
The other important word is 'recoverable'. And recoverable by who since the the areas around Rockall for instance are disputed. The areas in question are both deep and of difficult geology. These may be overcome and it would be nice if they could and were indeed actually there; the existance of all this oil is still speculative based on supposition.
BTW I suspect a lot of left wing agitation for YES is anti nuclear and trident. It will surely be the first time that lot have voted Yes to anything.
Comments
If we adopted your outlook, no one would ever vote for any party other than the Conservatives or Labour. But that ship has sailed.
If I were foreign, it might even be enough to persuade me to visit
People coming in from the Shire counties will need immunisation certificates as they had been close to animals.
From an industry report this month: http://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/1039/scottish-west-coast-untapped-oil-and-gas-reserves-worth-trillions/
"The investigation was undertaken by oilandgaspeople.com, the world’s largest oil and gas industry jobs board, and independent North Sea oil and gas industry experts. The investigation included interviews with industry experts and collated seismic and expert evidence from a range of independent sources such as the British Geological Survey, DECC, oil and gas companies, the Institute of Petroleum Engineering and the Energy Institute.
The findings show that the current predictions of extensive untapped reserves of oil and gas could be underestimated by 100%. The West Coast alone could provide oil and gas for at least 100 years with an estimated value of more than £1 trillion.
"The investigation revealed a consensus among industry experts and companies that it’s not a case of if, but when oil and gas reserves larger than in the North Sea will be discovered in the Atlantic Margin. The only barrier was the current lack of test drilling and technology. Many cited the case of BP’s Clair Ridge as an example of how technical difficulties once overcome can lead to new oil reserves. BP employed advanced recovery techniques to access fields in the Clair Ridge that were previously inaccessible due to geographical issues such as deep water. In the 1970s, drilling companies believed such fields were out of reach, but now that new technology has opened these fields up, the Clair Ridge alone will produce 120,000 barrels per day at peak levels of production. This translates to an estimated eight billion barrels of oil worth approximately £300 billion."
When are these facts of yours going to humiliate the uppity overly patriotic but economically illiterate Jock that doesn't know he's dependent on English largesse to keep his croft above water? I think I'll go have a pint while you discombobulate.
For the first time in 21 years I forgot our wedding anniversary. I am not kidding.
However I have been forgiven.
Mrs NB still considers that we are better together.
the issue isn't volume it's price.
I fell into the Thatcherite/Tebbit Get On Your Bike category as an 18yrs old.
My chums were more Touchy Feely/Free Everything Because That's Nice.
Only with age does idealism and simple solutions seem daft.
That's why I just can't take UKIP seriously. It's a brand of populism that reeks of being a Young Conservative circa 1985.
Bleak, bleak stuff.
What disappoints me most about about modern politics is its negativity. This is one reason that there is so little enthusiasm for Labour. What does it stand for apart from being against austerity?
UKIP are also defined by negativity. Against Europe, against immigration, against environmentalism and against gay marriage. This is not the new broom that inspires, it is a negative reaction against change.
For all their faults both Blair and Thatcher had a vision of a Britain reborn: Thatcher as a nation regaining its pride, based on free enterprise and economic betterment; Blair by the New Labour vision of a more inclusive, multicultural Britain. Both may have been chimeric for various reasons but they were each positive visions. It is also part of the bizarre attraction of radical Islamism, which has at its core a rather millenialist vision of the application of early Islamic practices to the modern world.
When there is no vision, the people perish, but that is modern politics.
Exploration West of Shetlands has been limited so far - mostly by the lack of licences being issued by DECC. There is very large scope for new discoveries and if the initial exploration is anything to go by then I would expect that prediction to be proved correct and then some.
That is not to say I would necessarily bet the future of a country on the likelihood but it is far more than just a guess, educated or otherwise.
Good time to talk about this as this week they just put the topside on the Solan project I have been working on as Wellsite and now Operations Geologist for the last year or so. There will be plenty more such developments WoS in the next few years.
Davidson is good.
Michelle Thompson leans very heavily towards the Yes camp.
UKIP offers an ethos of decentralisation and empowerment bringing power closer to the people by opposing remote elitist institutions like the EU and increasingly Westminster. That you view voter empowerment as a negative says a great deal
This was what we saw in the North Sea in both the UK and Norway and is now starting to happen in the Barents Sea as well.
His patience is endless.
youtube.com/watch?v=ApN73TUVMEU
If any party is defined by negativity it is the Lib Dems who consistently put the UK down and try to claim we could not stand on our own feet.
Plato Indeed, Toryboy would be UKIP now
Eh Ehm Raith Rovers? Isn't that Brown's home club?
This is a discovery and nomatter how much you would like it not to be the field is there as BP has told us or are they lying to?. There will be plenty more. This is all too easy guys - come on, I thought you Tories were hard-headed business types? Seems it's all bluster and myth with some toffee-nosed condescending nose-in-the-air scoffing learnt at public school passing off as informed. Ok, had my breakfast - off for a pub lunch
For what its worth, I have a reasonable stake on YES. But I hope its a NO - country and all that ...
The areas in question are both deep and of difficult geology. These may be overcome and it would be nice if they could and were indeed actually there; the existance of all this oil is still speculative based on supposition.
BTW I suspect a lot of left wing agitation for YES is anti nuclear and trident. It will surely be the first time that lot have voted Yes to anything.