The SNP Government has finally published an updated Oil and Gas Bulletin, over a year since the last update and on the last day of the parliamentary term.

Scottish Labour has been calling for an updated Oil and Gas Bulletin for months, as revenue forecasts declined and the oil price plunged, threatening thousands of jobs across Scotland.

The Oil and Gas bulletin acknowledges what impartial experts have been saying for some time -; the revenue Scotland will get from oil and gas in the coming years is set to plummet. Today’s bulletin predicts an 85% drop in revenue for the next two years compared to the SNP’s preferred projections in the independence White Paper.

Revenues are predicted to be below £2 billion in every year forecast from 2016/17 to 2019/20 in the SNP Government’s preferred scenario 4. This confirms IFS research which shows that cutting Scotland off from UK-wide taxes would mean an additional £7.6 billion deficit.

Scottish Labour has slammed the SNP for attempting to sneak out the Bulletin without any scrutiny, and said that the SNP’s policy of full fiscal autonomy has now been blown out of the water by their own figures.

Scottish Labour Finance spokesperson Jackie Baillie said:

“These projections are bad news for the oil industry, and both the SNP Government and the UK Government should explore all options to protect jobs that are directly affected and further down the supply chain.  

“It is ridiculous that the SNP tried to sneak this report out on the last day of Parliament. It’s clear that they have put their own political interests ahead of industry concerns.

“These new figures blow the SNP’s policy of full fiscal autonomy out of the water. We know cutting ourselves off from UK wide taxes would blow a £7.6 billion hole in Scotland’s finances.

“Last week the SNP trooped through the lobbies with the extreme right wing of the Tory party to vote for full fiscal autonomy. It is as clear as day now that they knew the policy would be a disaster for Scotland -; the SNP Government’s own figures prove it.”

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