Whose oil is it anyway?

Scottish oil wealth must leave a lasting legacy for the country, and the SNP government has advanced the case for an oil fund for Scotland—similar to that in other countries who have benefitted from this natural resource. An oil fund would invest a proportion of Scotland's oil and gas revenues to provide a permanent source of wealth and revenue for future generations. 

Adjusted for inflation, some £230 billion of tax revenue has come directly from Scottish territorial waters over the past 30 years. Including a geographical share of these, North Sea revenues would have seen Scotland in a current budget surplus for three years. Even the Treasury's own projections show the North Sea will remain a major source of tax revenue for years to come. The UK government has wasted the resources from the North Sea, but there are hundreds of billions worth of reserves still to be recovered, and we may only be at the halfway point in terms of revenues.

The Labour Party's extraordinary economic mismanagement over the past decade is clear, but even their own dodgy dossiers demonstrate that Scotland is in a stronger position than the UK as a whole. Scotland has a smaller debt than the UK, which confirms the official reports that show Scotland ran current budget surpluses in each of the three years to 2007/08, worth a cumulative £2.3 billion. This contrasts with the UK's recorded deficit of £24 billion over the same period, and last managed a current budget surplus in 2001/02. Furthermore, Scotland's position is better still when North Sea resources are included in Scotland's GDP, as well as in revenue.

Scotland's position would benefit enormously from having our trillion pound reserve asset in the North Sea—recently increased by the Oil & Gas UK survey—which is worth some ten times our inherited share of the UK debt. For the UK as a whole, even this enormous asset would only be equivalent in value to its debt. We want to harness the benefit of oil revenues for future years. An oil fund can provide greater stability, protect our economy and support the transition to a low carbon economy.

Norway's oil fund is already worth over £200 billion, despite the first instalment being made as recently as the mid 1990s. Alaska's oil fund even gives money back to its citizens every year.

The UK government can no longer oppose the people of Scotland enjoying the oil legacy they are entitled to, and for that to happen the Scottish Parliament must assume responsibility for our geographical share of North Sea revenues.

For all these reasons independence is the best possible position for Scotland, and the arguments for equality for Scotland and access to our abundant resources in the future are even stronger.