• How Would Low Oil Prices Have Affect Independent Scotland?

Fuel for Thought

How Would Low Oil Prices Have Affect Independent Scotland?

Feb 12 2016

While at the time the independent Scotland movement had patriotic ‘YES’ voters all fired up, the Treasury has firmly put out the flames with a calculation claiming that the nation would have faced a £6.4 billion "gaping chasm" in its finances, had the SNP party succeeded back in 2014. The dismal figure comes in the wake of the global oil price slump that has had a devastating impact on producers. With barrels now selling at around US$60, prices have dropped by almost 50%.

Scotland left high and dry

According to the Whitehall department, the ‘black hole’ would have left the 2016 Scottish Government with no other choice but to slash public service budgets. A senior cabinet minister described the would be move as a desperate bid to "Implement austerity to balance the books on a scale that we have not seen." For Scotland, the backlash would have been colossal. Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury maintains that the ‘NO’ vote is an indication of "how wise we were to choose to keep the UK together."

SNP Party fights back

Understandably, the SNP government didn’t fail to hit back, highlighting the fact that the majority of independent forecasters are predicting an oil price recovery over the next 12 months, with Opec forecasting a rise of US$110 a barrel.

"We are doing everything in our power to help boost the industry," stressed a spokesman for Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney. "But Danny Alexander needs to start taking personal responsibility for what is happening on his watch and for something he has personal responsibility for, instead of refighting the referendum campaign.”

A nation second guessing itself

For supporters of the SNP Government, the figures have sparked mass controversy. While some side with Swinney, others were forced to think twice regarding Alexander’s assertion that the oil price slump would have shaken an independent Scotland to the bone.  

"People who support independence should over the New Year period reflect very carefully on this. This really cuts to the heart of the way in which Scotland is stronger because of the way in which we share resources across the whole of the United Kingdom."

With oil prices at a catastrophic low, producers must do everything they can to cut costs. ‘Determination of Water in LPG’ explores the US$15 billion cost factor of corrosion, and why it’s so important to actively prevent the weathering of pipes and equipment using next generation monitoring solutions.

Image via Flickr Creative Commons. Photo credits: Jordi Gabarró Llop


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