The Orcadian's Guide to the 20th Century

DAWN OF THE OIL AGE - 1976

The discovery that was to help change the modern face of Orkney received just three paragraphs in The Orcadian of 1973.

A large new oil field had been discovered in the North Sea, 100 miles east of Wick, confirmed Occidental Petroleum. Tests showed a possible output of 250,000 barrels a day. It would be known as the Piper Field.

Orkney’s Oil Age had been born – ushering in an era which, although not always ensuring unfettered prosperity, has at least shielded the county from the worst ravages of economic decline suffered by some areas.

It’s been a quirk of history that every generation, roughly every 25 years through the 20th century, has produced an economic lifeline for Orkney. Unfortunately, in 1914 and again in 1939 it involved a world war.

Thankfully, the promise of North Sea oil promised Orkney a peacetime bonanza.

The exploration for oil in the North Sea had been going on for five years or more, but it was only at the end of 1971 and the start of 1972, as the prospectors moved further north, that Orkney began to be seriously suggested as an oil base. And then the progress of developments was rapid.

Perhaps it is the weather to blame, but Orkney has always suffered from the affliction of rumour-tism, and, now, as the county saw an invasion of prospective oil developers, the sight and sound of a transatlantic accent in Stetson and cowboy boots was sufficient to start a veritable conveyor belt of rumours around the islands.

Eventually, in a bid to cut through the burgeoning growth of rumours and oil industry fantasy, Orkney MP Jo Grimond wrote to the Secretary of State for Scotland Gordon Campbell asking the Minister to come clean over what was proposed and what was not.

Mr Grimond accepted that, if properly handled, the discovery of oil could being great benefits and a new variety of employment to the area, but assurances would be needed on environmental and pollution issues, he said.

“Generations to come will not forgive us if we make a mess of our opportunities – least of all if we repeat the mistakes of the 19th century industrial development.

“It is for the people themselves to express a view as to what they want. It is their country. It is the future of their children which is at stake. They want to know what is being considered, even if it is only a possibility.”

The discovery of the Piper Field by Occidental Petroleum was in January, 1973, and it was four months later that Occidental – or Oxy as it came to be known – consortium confirmed that a major tanker terminal with oil storage facilities, expected to cost £25 million, was being planned.

The managing director of Occidental in the UK, Mr Robert MacAlister, admitted his company had contacted the Orkney County Council about establishing such a base, and one of the areas considered was in Scapa Flow. Once established, the base would provide 75 jobs.

By July 26, 1973, the front page headline in The Orcadian read: “Oil terminal for Flotta?” A 130 mile pipeline would link the Piper Field to Flotta, with 900 men required for the construction phase, said the newspaper.

Mr MacAlister confirmed in October, 1973, that negotiations for 250 acres of Flotta, at a reported price of £300,000 were going ahead.

Three years later in November, 1976, just a week before production was due to start, 300 workers at the Piper platform staged a strike. Fortunately it was settled within days and the first commercial oil came from the Piper Field on December 7, 1976.

And what was to become a symbol of Orkney’s Oil Age, the Flotta flare, which could burn off excess gas, was lit for the first time at 2am on Tuesday, December 28, 1976. “We’re making oil now and it has been a sweet operation,” said Captain Arthur Mackay.