Drill Baby, Drill...

Nicola Sturgeon will today call on the UK Government to consult urgently on incentives to boost exploration in the North Sea.

The First Minister will make the demand at the annual Oil and Gas UK Conference in Aberdeen.

Figures show that North Sea exploration last year reached its lowest level in at least two decades, with 14 explorations wells drilled compared to 44 in 2008.

The Scottish Government claims the Westminster Government has yet to deliver any follow up action after committing at the end of 2014 to further work on options for supporting exploration through the tax system.

The First Minister will today suggest that financial incentives, such as a new exploration tax credit or an expansion of the investment allowance, will help companies to find new oil.

She will also point to the example of the Johan Sverdrup field in Norwegian waters, which was discovered in 2010 in a mature area which had previously been explored without success.

Speaking ahead of conference, Ms Sturgeon said: “North Sea exploration needs urgent support. You only need to look to Norway to see the impact that effective stewardship and the right policies can have on exploration, where more than 40 exploration wells were drilled in 2014. 

Of coouurrse she will.

Y'know what it is, don'tcha ?: The evil English are blocking new exploration because they want to deny you the revenues for independence.  That, or maybe the oil isn't there to find.  If it were, we'd be drilling.

From the Arctic to the Falklands, from Canadian oil-sands to fracking, energy-companies are looking at just about every possible option to extract every possible molecule of fossil-fuels from the Earth (Never mind the fact that doing do so will likely doom humanity).  And we've been drilling in this part of the world since the 'sixties.

Although, actually, now that I think about it, I'm torn: On the one hand, I do think we need desperately to move away from fossil-fuels.  But, on the other hand, maybe if we gave you your exploratory rigs, and they turned up dry, you might realise how quixotic your dream of an independent Scotland truly is.  Come back to Britain, Nicky !