North Sea resources are key in independence vote but difference in estimates reveals cloudy picture
The claim by Sir Ian Wood, a leading Scottish oil executive, that Alex Salmond has hugely exaggerated Scotland’s oil wealth has frustrated supporters of independence and delighted the no camp ahead of next month’s referendum.
Nonetheless, his intervention this week underscores a puzzling point: oil should be a crucial factor in weighing up how Scots vote on 18 September, but the scale and longevity of the country’s fossil fuel wealth remains a matter of debate.