Bottom of barrel
The £12bn-24bn always quoted as still waiting to be pumped up could give a further two or three decades of fair yield, but at ever-increasing cost per barrel, so there can be no expectations of additional revenues.
The UK economy is thus not critically dependent on the oil receipts, although the whole oil/gas endeavour contributes a moderate percentage to GDP. There seems no need for rUK to have to take on the risky role of lender of last resort for Scotland in a formal currency union just to keep oil monies coming in.
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Hide AdFor both Scotland and rUK, oil revenues will be slight after another 40 years, so permanent separation means they must be replaced from other sources – Holyrood has yet to spell out how.
Joe Darby
Dingwall
Ross-shire