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Seriously...

Life on the Edge of Oil

Seriously...

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.1885 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Situated 75-miles off the west coast of Shetland, the future of Cambo, a prospective new oil field in the North Sea, has big implications for Shetland. Cambo has become emblematic of the debate about fossil fuels.

In 2001, an oil exploration license for the site was granted. In 2021, when public sentiment towards fossil fuels cooled, the project was shelved. But now, Cambo is being reconsidered once again... The war in Ukraine and fears over energy security have changed how we feel about oil and gas. But what's the problem that Cambo is providing a solution to? Will it give us better energy security? Will it enrich the lives of local people?

Turns out, the answer is more complex than that... Shetland has directly benefitted from its relationship with North Sea oil. Unlike in the rest of the UK, the local council established something akin to a sovereign wealth fund. They made a proceed from every barrel of oil processed at Sullum Voe Oil Terminal. It's really positively impacted the local population, and as the cost of living crisis bites, the chance of a renewed boost to the local economy is hard to entirely reject, even in the face of growing environmental awareness. In this one-off doc, journalist Jen Stout assesses how the potential end of oil looks from Shetland's perspective.

With contributions from historian Ewan Gibbs, energy researcher Miriam Brett, environmental lawyer Tessa Khan, energy transition expert Daniel Gear, former oil worker and councillor Billy Fox, and energy and climate change researcher James Price.

Producer: Victoria McArthur Presenting and production: Jen Stout Research: Emily Esson Sound mix: Sean Mullervy Senior Producer: Peter McManus

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box.

0:05.0

The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from.

0:09.0

And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape.

0:12.0

The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape.

0:12.5

The IRA inmates who found a way.

0:14.5

I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path

0:19.5

through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history.

0:25.0

The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them.

0:28.5

Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds.

0:35.0

BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:39.0

Hi there, you're listening to Seriously from BBC Radio 4 and I'm your host Vanessa

0:46.0

Kiseulae.

0:47.1

This podcast finds the world's best audio documentaries and puts them all in one place.

0:52.4

Here's a little something to expand your mind.

0:56.0

Campbell, 75 miles west of Shetland, is a prospective oil field.

1:01.0

It's actually one of several, but Campbell is particularly distinctive due to the political back and forth

1:06.9

over whether it should get the go ahead. In 2021 the project seemed to be shelved for good.

1:13.2

Two years on, the war in Ukraine, Putin's weaponization of gas and the

1:17.4

results in energy crisis apparently mean that things have changed.

1:22.4

So where does that leave North Sea, oil and gas? And more importantly,

1:26.1

if you're standing where I'm standing, where does this leave Shetland?

1:30.0

Shetland is almost an exception in the way that we can critically think about

...

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