Letters / Conspiracy theories
Yes Shetland have gone from what they claimed to be positive to downright negative and now so low as to need to add conspiracy theories to their repertoire (‘PM knew nothing’, SN 3/8/14).
What is happening on the west side of Shetland is there on the internet to be read about and one of the best links is this one regarding Whirlwind and Lancaster.
This link that has been available since February this year, so no secrecy; is extremely informative, showing where the oil is, how deep it is and how it is recovered. It also gives an idea of how expensive it is to extract from deep wells such as this, something which is aided by tax concessions from the UK government to the oil companies, without which it would mean the oil would maybe stay where it is with the present low price.
This is where I could add my own conspiracy theory, by saying the yes camp knew of the PM’s visit days before he arrived, (as posted on Yes Shetland Facebook) it is also possible they thought they knew of his announcement about an oil find on the west side. I could even add that the strike on site was politically motivated to stop him speaking.
But not being a conspiracy theorist I would not say any of the above. I would just say that the oil companies are keeping the vast extent of oil finds on the west side fairly quiet so that the already low price of oil is not driven down even more.
Oil is a commodity and the quantity available could affect the price and Douglas’s attempt to turn it into a political commodity just shows how desperate the Yes campaign are getting in their desire to convince voters to vote yes.
There may be more oil than first thought out there but the more there is the lower the price, so no increase in revenue for the UK or independent Scottish governments. So where is the gain for the PM to say nothing? Once again the Yes camp have attempted to pull the wool over our eyes and not credit us with the intelligence to find things out for ourselves.
Gordon Harmer,
Brae
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
