AN article titled “Shell continues its divestment drive” was published in The National on February 1. The article is important for Scotland, not so much for what it states explicitly, but for what it does not state. Note the following:

1) Shell are divesting by selling off assets – in Buzzard, Beryl, Bressay, Elgin, Franklin, J-Block, the Greater Armada Cluster, Everest, Lomond, and Erskine – to Chrysaor, which will maximise the economic recovery of oil and gas from the North Sea. Note that half as much oil again remains to be recovered from the Scottish North Sea as has already been recovered since extraction began more than 40 years ago in that basin.

2) Shell may be divesting, but Chrysaor is INVESTING in the Scottish North Sea. The wells mentioned previously pump out a total of 115,000 barrels of oil per day, more than half Shell’s North Sea production last year of 211,000 barrels.

3) Just in case anyone was thinking that the Scottish oil industry was a “busted flush”, think again. Andy Brown, Shell’s upstream director, said that the firm “remains committed to the North Sea”; that the Chrysaor deal is a “vote of confidence in the UK North Sea”, and the North Sea “will continue to be a source of energy and revenue for the country for many years to come”.

4) The interesting comment comes from Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, who stated: “This is a very significant deal and signals a strong vote of confidence in the future of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and the focus on maximising economic recovery, and Chrysaor’s intent to explore and invest ... sends positives signals about the opportunity the UKs offshore oil and gas basin has to offer”.

Michie states further that: “This region [the North Sea] still has the potential to yield many more millions of barrels of hydrocarbons”.

Strange that Scottish oil and gas can do all those wonderful things for the UK, but not for an independent Scotland. Strange that the UK Government will not hand over complete control of the alleged “busted flush” of Scottish oil and gas reserves and revenues to the Scottish Government. Michie realises the vast economic potential of the oil and gas still remaining in the Scottish North Sea. She talks in general terms about “the strong vote of confidence in the future of the UKCS”, and herein resides the real import of her statement. The UKCS extends to the Scottish Atlantic Margin, off the west coast of Scotland, and not just to the Scottish North Sea.

Millions and millions of barrels of oil and gas is currently being pumped out of the Shetland/Faroese basin in the Scottish Atlantic Margin, west of Shetland. No talk of decommissioning rigs in this sector, which contains three or four times as much oil and gas in total (the whole of the Scottish Atlantic Margin which contains multiple basins) as the Scottish North Sea before extraction began there.

Innovative new technology is being deployed to explore for and extract oil and gas from the deep Scottish Atlantic waters. The Clair Ridge oil and gas field in the Scottish Atlantic Margin is the largest oil and gas field in north-west Europe at this point in time. The Glen Lyon floating production, storage and offloading platform is an example of the new generation of platforms coming online to explore for and extract Scottish oil and gas. By all means concentrate on extracting what oil and gas remains in the Scottish North Sea, but don’t take your eyes off the biggest prize of all – the Scottish Atlantic Margin oil and gas reserves.

The Scottish oil industry is far from finished – in fact, it’s only getting into its stride – with more than 100 years at least remaining in total in all basins.
William C McLaughlin
Biggar

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We should decide who can and can’t stay in Scotland

I DON’T know if you did it deliberately, but between pages three and four of Monday’s National you presented the perfect example of the questions we are asking of Westminster and what their response is likely to be.

On page four, “Scotland needs its EU Nationals” posed the question: will Westminster consider Scotland’s special needs or will it just rush headlong into a hard Brexit that will cause us nothing but harm?

You highlighted the benefits EU migration has brought to Scotland and showed that the “Labour Lambs” are quite prepared to be led like sheep to be slaughtered and will not oppose Theresa May’s headlong rush towards the cliff of economic disaster that looms within the spectre of a hard Brexit.

On page three, “Award-winning actor caught up in citizenship tangle” showed just exactly how unconcerned about Scotland they are. How often have we seen it already: an immigrant who has settled here, made his life here, is working and contributing to our economy, has no criminal record and is a conscientious contributing factor in our economy.

In other words, he has brought us nothing but benefit. But that doesn’t matter. Just as happened with the Brain family and others since, he is being threatened with being kicked out the country and may not be allowed back.

Why? Because Westminster says so. Is this not the perfect example of Scotland being told: “You will do as we say. What you want, or what is to your benefit doesn’t matter. It’s what we say that counts”? We will never be free of this domineering attitude until we have our own independent government in our own independent country.

Perhaps then we might be able to evaluate the contribution made by people in a similar situation and resolve the matter here, without causing the people concerned, and indeed our economy, any loss or upheaval.
Charlie Kerr
Glenrothes


IF laughter is the best medicine then Keiza Dugdale must be curing the world. Having stood full square 
to front the Tory-funded Better Together campaign of Donald Trump-style “alternative facts”, 
she is now trying to ensure Brexit will happen apace in Scotland.
By opposing Brexit and a second independence referendum Dugdale is trying to please everyone and succeeding in irritating everyone.
Labour have zero chance of being in power at Westminster at least until 2025 or possibly ever. This means that Dugdale is de facto and de jure placing Scotland’s economic future in the hands of Theresa May and Donald Trump. Asserting democratic control through independence  is the only way out of this post-Brexit nightmare scenario.
To show the contempt the Tories have for Scotland, one Tory MP got to speak more than all other MPs from devolved parliaments together on, how Brexit affects the devolved administrations.
Dugdale and Labour are going to pay a heavy price. She could bring happiness to millions by resigning and never coming back into the public arena.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee 

IT was good to see Mhairi Black listing the famous people to come out of Paisley, but I’d like to add one who is major in the Gaelic world (It is time to stop looking down on thriving Paisley, The National, February 4). 

That is Dòmhnall Mac an t-Saoir (Dòmhnall Ruadh) bàrd Phàislig (Donald MacIntyre, the Paisley bard) – who wrote the hilarious song Oran Na Cloiche (Song Of The Stone) about the taking of the Stone of Destiny in 1950 (I love the panic of the minister in Westminster Abbey fretting about how he is going to tell the Queen, and when she finds out “tha fios a’m gum bi bhànrainn a’ fagail a beachd” (I’m certain the Queen will be out of her mind/wits!).

It has been done by a few people, but Mànran have done a very good version of it. So don’t forget Paisley’s good Gaelic heritage as well! 
Crìsdean Mac Fhearghais
Dùn Eideann

JAMES Stevenson had me hooting with laughter about the Church of Scientology (Letters, February 6). As a naive student, I remember filling in a form at their headquarters on North Bridge.

Must have had a few brain cells  as I beat a hasty retreat out of there. Hopefully they zapped a few of the Thetan atoms before I escaped! 
Maggie Noakes 
Edinburgh