Rock collection move 'could hurt oil industry'

MOVING a unique collection of ancient rock samples from Edinburgh to the East Midlands could hit Scotland's North Sea oil production, enterprise minister Jim Mather has claimed.

Plans by the British Geological Survey to relocate hundreds of thousands of rocks up to 400 million years old from its "core stores" in Gilmerton and Loanhead to Keyworth, near Nottingham, have provoked furious protests.

Mr Mather said: "The core and records collection currently located at Gilmerton is widely used by oil and gas companies in Scotland for exploration and development purposes.

"If core data is to be used to greatest economic value the cores need to be situated in close proximity to its main users.

"Relocating the core data to Keyworth would affect access to the material from Scotland, increase costs to the oil and gas industry and ultimately result in the facility being used less.

"This could have negative implications for North Sea petroleum activities."