The Foundations of an Offshore Supplies Policy

Abstract

In 1964 the first serious commercial exploration for hydrocarbons in the North Sea began, followed closely by a series of substantial gas discoveries in 1965 and 1966. With hindsight, one might choose to regard these discoveries as the beginning of an era in which hydrocarbon fuels from the UK continental shelf dramatically altered Britain’s status in international energy markets and the future of many national industries. Yet at the time few commentators outside the oil industry recognised the potential importance of the early finds in what is now known to be a major hydrocarbons producing zone. One manifestation of this is that the press and other sources devoted very little attention to the offshore supplies issue, even in the late 1960s when it was common knowledge that British industry had failed to gain a substantial share of the development contracts associated with gas exploitation.