Alex Salmond has been accused of inflating the value of North Sea oil reserves to boost the case for Scottish independence.
The first minister was called on to explain how in the last year he had added half a trillion pounds to the amount to still to be extracted – even though the price of oil is down.
Speaking during an oil debate at the Scottish Parliament Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon said that, in February last year, Mr Salmond – a former energy economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland – said there were 24billion barrels of oil left in the North Sea worth more than £1trillion. But in his New Year’s message last week he put the value of the 24billion barrels at £1.5trillion.
She said: “I find this odd given that the price of Brent crude in February last year was $121 and this month it is $111.
“So, the amount of oil in the North Sea still to be extracted remains the same, the price of oil falls by $10 a barrel over the 11-month period, yet the first minister claims that last year’s trillion worth of oil is now worth one and a half trillion.”
Labour energy spokes-woman Rhoda Grant asked if the SNP’s plans to use North Sea revenues for a Norwegian-style oil fund would mean top-slicing existing taxation or levying more taxes on the oil industry.
“Companies need to be able to plan ahead and develop new fields and technologies, and this is a point stressed by Oil & Gas UK,” she said.
“It is, therefore, important that the Scottish Government is clear about what their regime for oil and gas will be should Scotland leave the UK.”
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: “As far as taxation is concerned, we recognise that stability and predictability are absolutely key.
“The worst possible thing is to see any repetition of the tax hike that the industry faced, without any warning, in 2011 of an additional 12% supplementary petroleum tax.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the £1.5trillion figure to which Mr Salmond referred was arrived at by taking the 24billion barrels at an average exchange rate of $100 and multiplying it by an exchange rate of $1.60 to the pound.
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