Crude Britannia

Crude Britannia: The Story of North Sea Oil is a 2009 three-part BBC Four documentary series, about the development and inherent dangers of extracting North Sea oil from the 1970s.

Production

The first episode aired on Thursday 18 June 2009, being made by Tom Sheahan at BBC Birmingham.^[1]

Episodes

Episode 1

After gas was found in the Netherlands in August 1959, there was 18 months of drilling in the North Sea, but no oil was found. In 1969 seven rigs were looking, but no oil was found. In December 1969, the Americans found oil near Norway. The BP Sea Quest was moved 100 miles off Scotland, where five areas were drilled, but nothing was found. Then oil was found on 7 October 1970; the field had enough petroleum for the UK for five years. The 1970s oil crisis, with Prof Alex Kemp. Gavin McCrone, an economist from 1967-85 at the Scottish Office. Most drilling had been in 200ft depth of water before, but the North Sea had 400ft depth. It required the biggest oil platforms ever built.

Oil platforms were a year late, but were launched in 1974 by BP. It would be at least a year before oil came ashore. The miner's strike was in that year. In November 1975, BP's oil arrived. The writer Al Alvarez.

By 1976, oil was arriving at 1 million barrels a day. The Labour government was deeply suspicious of private enterprise owning the oil producing equipment, so instead set up the British National Oil Corporation in 1976. Inflation was 20%, and in May 1979, the Conservatives were re-elected, which would allow private enterprise to be less commercially unhindered in the North Sea.

Episode 2

The oil corporation was sold in 1981. North Sea oil platforms had no unions, but workers were well paid, and anyone causing trouble would be described as NRB - not required back. All workers were sub-contracted as well. Jane Franchi of BBC Scotland.

The Tension-leg platform system was introduced in 1984, which made much deeper drilling now possible. In 1986 the oil price fell. Divers worked with the dangerous saturation diving method. Nine divers died in 1974.

On 6 November 1986, there was a devastating helicopter crash. The 6 July 1988 platform disaster - the field produced 10% of UK oil.

References

↑ BFI

External links

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[1] BFI

[1]

Crude Britannia

Contents