Oil industry in Scotland

The oil industry in Scotland was largely created upon the discovery of North Sea oil. The country is one of the world’s leading oil producers, and in 2020, oil and gas contributed £13.8 billion to the Scottish economy and supported 100,000 jobs.^[1] Commercial extraction of oil on the shores of the North Sea dates back to 1851, when James Young retorted oil from torbanite (boghead coal, or oil shale) mined in the Midland Valley of Scotland.^[2]

Scottish waters consisting of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil resources in Western Europe. Scotland is one of Europe's largest petroleum producers, with the discovery of North Sea oil transforming the Scottish economy.^[3] Oil was discovered in the North Sea in 1966, with the first year of full production taking place in 1976.^[4] With the growth of oil exploration during that time, as well as the ancillary industries needed to support it, the city of Aberdeen became the UK's centre of the North Sea Oil Industry, with the port and harbour serving many oil fields off shore. Sullom Voe in Shetland is the site of a major oil terminal, where oil is piped in and transferred to tankers. Similarly the Flotta Oil Terminal in Orkney is linked by a 230 km long pipeline to the Piper and Occidental oil fields in the North Sea.^[5] Grangemouth is at the centre of Scotland's petrochemicals industry. The oil related industries are a major source of employment and income in these regions.