By and large, the UKCS oil & gas story has been one of success. However, this has not been the case in the waters west of the Scottish mainland and the Hebrides. Rather, it has been one of disappointment and, unlike bustling Shetland, somehow oddly remote from Aberdeen.
Scotland’s west coast has always had a slightly arms length relationship with the oil & industry – intimately involved at some levels but never the front line in terms of activity or economic impacts.
It was not always expected to remain that way. I remember, almost 40 years ago, attending explanatory meetings in Stornoway and elsewhere at which oil industry executives talked confidently about the industry’s expansion to waters west of the Hebrides.
It was not a case of “if?” but “when?” which explains why that expectation has never quite gone away even though it has rarely seemed close to being fulfilled.
