| Summary: | This study comprises an analysis of the development of oil and gas in the Scottish sector of the North Sea and its impact on the Scottish economy between 1967 and 1989. It first examines the creation and extension of the power of the multinational oil companies. It discusses the decline of that power as nationalism in the Middle East forced the multinationals to make concessions. The result was a weakening of multinational firms which culminated in the movement to explore for oil in more stable areas. Subsequent OPEC activity drove the price of oil up and created an oil boom in the North Sea, lasting until the end of 1985. The high oil prices that triggered the oil boom in the North Sea had a tremendous impact on the British economy. Increasing oil import prices seemed likely to drive Britain to the brink of bankruptcy, if not into bankruptcy. Consequently, successive British governments adopted a policy of developing Britain's North Sea assets as rapidly as possible, to avert economic disaster. These two factors combined to create a window of opportunity for industry that lasted about ten years. It was expected that Scottish industry would benefit greatly from this unprecedented development. That it did not can be attributed to several reasons including, among others: the lack of abiity to adapt to the specifications of the oil and gas industry; the lack of government action to force greater Scottish content; the well developed, interlocking infrastructure of the major international petroleum suppliers, service companies and operators; and the lack of time to respond before the boom was over. The result of these negative factors was a Scottish content in Scottish Sector North Sea oil and gas development of less than twenty-five percent.
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