When the first North Sea oil rig struck black gold in the 1970s, politicians promised a tide that would lift all boats. Half a century on, coastal communities from Aberdeen to Shetland are still waiting. New figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that despite pumping £300bn in tax revenues into the Treasury, the oil and gas sector has been a net drain on public finances for the past decade.
The industry claims 35,000 direct jobs, but the real number of workers on the rigs and in supply chain firms is closer to 20,000, many of whom are on short-term contracts with no pension or sick pay. Meanwhile, the cost of decommissioning ageing platforms is set to hit £60bn. “It’s a pyramid scheme with rusting iron at the bottom,” said Dr Elaine Morrison of the North Sea Transition Centre.
“The private sector took the profits, the public sector will pick up the tab.” With wind and solar now cheaper per megawatt hour, the question isn’t whether to leave the oil in the ground. It’s why working people in the north of Scotland are still being sold a dream that ran dry years ago.
