Scottish independence and the fight for the oilfields
As the SNP announces a raft of measures aimed at strengthening the argument for independence for Scotland a number of issues have been highlighted with the main one being the lack of mention of Scottish oilfields. There is no doubt that the Scottish executive would like nothing better than to grasp control of the UK's supply of oil at a time when prices are historically high and demand is starting to outstrip supply.
The oil income collected from the Scottish seas has long been a bone of contention between the Scottish executive and Westminster although the UK government is adamant it will retain control over all oil related income. When you consider this is an industry which has been ongoing for decades and received significant investment from both private companies and the UK government, is there really an argument for making the oil fields in Scotland a part of Scottish independence?
While the general SNP paper on Scottish independence, purely aimed at allaying initial fears regarding the move, has been trumpeted on the international stage there is no doubt that great scepticism still remains and ultimately recent opinion polls show that the Scottish population are firmly against independence. However, this is unlikely to stop the SNP from pushing for independence between now and an expected referendum next year.
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