Oil Strike North Sea

A first-hand history of North Sea oil

When the oil companies arrived in Scotland in the 1970s, they had never before dared to bring oil up from beneath such deep and stormy waters as the North Sea. It would take colossal engineering, new technology and huge egos to step up to the challenge.

Forty years later, the fascinating story of what happened next is told in this highly readable and detailed account. Its narrative sweep extends from the first commercial oil brought ashore in a pickle jar; the secrecy and skulduggery of the early days as the oil companies scrambled for acreage; how the Shetland Isles stood up to big oil and the Aberdeen area was short-changed by successive governments. It runs all the way through to the present day as the future of both North Sea oil and the world s energy needs hang in the balance.