WIREDGOV

Prospectivity to the west of the Scottish mainland. 

In collaboration with industry and academia, the Scottish Government aims to examine the potential for oil and gas discoveries in underexplored offshore areas to the west of Scotland. These maritime areas include the Solway Firth, the Firth of Clyde, the North Channel and the Sea of the Hebrides.

The Scottish Government will co-host a workshop with Heriot Watt University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering, and attended by the industry, to examine the potential for conventional oil and gas resources in these offshore waters. Attendees will also discuss the requirement for new research to help stimulate exploration off the west coast. The ‘West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop’, which will be held in late Autumn, further emphasises the long term future of the oil and gas industry in Scotland, which supports over 200,000 people in the sector.

Over the longer term, if future exploration of the inner seas to the west of the Scottish mainland proves successful, which could be further sustained by an examination of vast underexplored land towards Rockall, the potential for a new hydrocarbon province could help boost oil and gas production from Scottish waters.

Commenting on the workshop, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing said:

“Stimulating oil and gas activity to the west of Scotland could create employment and further increase the longevity of the industry in the country. Furthermore, any future activity will be supported by Scotland’s world-class indigenous supply chain with forty years of experience in the North Sea. However, only with independence will the Scottish Government have the full economic powers to stimulate exploration activity in Scotland’s waters to fully develop the country’s oil and gas resources.”

Professor Dorrik Stow, Head of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering said:

“We look forward to being part of a wide collaboration with industry, universities and government to gain a better understanding of the prospects for oil and gas in the West of Scotland. The Institute has world-leading expertise to help develop the discussion on future exploration activity in the region.”

Professor John Howell, Chair in Geology & Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen added:

"The offshore area to the west of Scotland includes several major basins with hydrocarbon potential. While over 3,000 exploration wells have been drilled in the North Sea and West of Shetland, only around 20 exploration wells have been drilled to the west of the Scottish mainland – with many basins totally unexplored. This provides significant future potential which can only be appraised with detailed scientific study. This workshop is the first step along the path to unleash that potential."

The Scottish Government welcomes the industry’s participation in the West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop, and encourages further interested companies to contact the Scottish Government’s Oil and Gas Division for further information