Whistle blower Web site WikiLeaks site has revealed U.S. diplomatic cables that show the U.K. could be forced to depend on other countries for two-thirds of its oil and natural gas needs due to dramatic production declines in the North Sea. The cables indicate the U.K. with Norway about oil purchases.
The cables reveal that Britain's gas and oil reserves are declining by 8% a year, and that the country will import 60%-80% of its oil and gas supply within less than ten years, the Scotsman reported. The cables also show the U.K. wants to expand its use of domestic fuel sources, including nuclear and clean coal.
One cable said ''The UK will experience a severe decrease in North Sea gas and oil stocks by 2020, and will need to improve its diversity of supply as well as move towards 'homegrown' measures such as nuclear and renewables,'' the Scotsman reported.
Officials in both Norway and the U.K. agree that more than half of the North Sea's recoverable reserves have already been extracted. Norway's area of the sea accounts for more than half of the oil reserves and nearly half of the natural gas reserves. North Sea oil production peaked at 6 million barrels per day in 1999.
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