Scottish independence: ‘Oil revenues to fall’

By ANDREW WHITAKER
Published on 02/03/2013 02:58

AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would begin with a £4 billion black hole in its finances due to a fall in oil revenues, UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said yesterday.

He used a speech to business leaders to claim that in 2016-17 – the SNP’s preferred year of independence – there would be a “significant reduction” in North Sea oil revenues.

Mr Alexander highlighted estimates from the UK’s Office of Budget Responsibility, which, the Liberal Democrat minister claimed, predicted a “downward trajectory over the medium and long term” in oil revenues.
He said it had been forecast that revenues will be about half the average of recent years, amounting to a £4bn loss for
Scotland.