Controversial research by the University of Edinburgh suggests UK oil and gas industries are entering the last decade of production. Julian Turner talks to the author of the report, Prof. Roy Thompson, about resource depletion, hard data vs industry optimism, and the transition to the clean economy. The Edinburgh Geological Society was formed in 1834 with the aim of stimulating public interest in geology. Issue 62 of its magazine, The Edinburgh Geologist, published in October, certainly did that. It contained a report by Edinburgh University that predicted the UK’s oil and gas reserves could run out in as little as a decade, that fracking is not viable in Scotland and barely feasible in the UK thanks to a dearth of suitable geology, and that the UK will soon have to import all its oil and gas. Professor Roy Thompson of Edinburgh University’s School
Twilight years: is the UK entering its last decade of oil and gas production?