 Alex Salmond hopes the Bill will earn billions of pounds for Scotland |
Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond has launched a bid to "repatriate" Scotland's oil and gas. The Banff and Buchan MP has published a Bill aimed at securing offshore revenues for the Scottish Parliament.
The move follows the publication of a series of proposed incentives aimed at extending the life of the North Sea to protect investment and jobs.
Mr Salmond's Scotland (Repatriation of Oil and Gas) Bill will be introduced in the House of Commons later this month.
'Scotland's turn'
Mr Salmond said: "It is now over 30 years since the first oil was pumped from the Scottish sector of the North Sea.
"In that time more than 34 billion barrels of black gold have come ashore, bringing a revenue windfall for the United Kingdom of �203bn.
"With oil revenues once again at the record high levels of the 1980s, Scotland's wealth is now filling the black hole in the British budget.
"After all these years of British benefit, it is now Scotland's turn."
Mr Salmond warned: "The last 30 years of oil are gone and largely wasted. Let's make sure the next 30 see the transformation that Scotland deserves."
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