Letter: Oiling the wheels

I refer to the Bill Jamieson's incisive article - and to the equally germane editorial in the same issue ( 23 June) - but I wonder if a key point is being missed?

While the price of North Sea oil is important, the revenue flow seems pretty safe other than in any short-term period because the supply-demand balance of world oil must trend upwards as demand rockets from India, Brazil and, especially, China.

Future price, then, is probably sorted, but how about amount? By that I mean the size of the North Sea oilfield. When in the early 1970s SNP trumpeted "it's Scotland's oil", they had the comfort of a 50-year burgeoning oil resource and so financial credibility. But does that stand up today when that field is mature and set to decline? With renewable in Scotland running at 20 per cent of their whirling capacity and giving us just some 5 per cent of our energy needs, the economic case for Scottish independence today seems slight indeed.

Bill Dewar

Dalrymple Street

Dundee