Scottish oil and gas sales to the rest of Britain and international markets are estimated to be worth over 30 billion pounds (about 48 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012, the Scottish government said on Wednesday.
International sales by the Scottish oil and gas supply chain have more than doubled from 3.4 billion pounds in 2003 to 8.2 billion pounds in 2011, said the Scottish government press release.
Sales of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) were worth almost 18 billion pounds in 2012, while refined petroleum products and natural gas were worth an additional combined value of 12 billion pounds, according to the Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin new experimental statistics, the first time estimates for oil and gas exports produced for Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise and Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said that recent estimates suggest that activity in the North Sea fields will last for decades with 24 billion barrels of oil equivalent, valued at 1.5 trillion pounds.
"Increasingly, our companies are embracing the major opportunities in the oil and gas supply chain, winning lucrative contracts to export products and services from Scotland. It is the first time the scale of the international industry in the North Sea has been available in such detail," Ewing noted.
"We have many creative and innovative companies capable of identifying growth opportunities in overseas markets and making a significant contribution to such business for many years to come," he added.
Scottish firms secured hundreds of new contracts in Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Africa, said the press release. (1 pound = 1.61 U.S. dollars)