The North Sea oil industry, particularly the Shetland region at its core, is showing the strain of low oil prices, raising questions about its viability. The demise of the four-decade old UK industry has been predicted many times, with recent concerns centered on taxation and possible independence for Scotland. After oil prices collapsed last year, lobby group Oil and Gas UK predicted 20% of UK oil production could be shut down this year. Instead, only a few fields have been shut and oil production is booming, rising 14% year on year to a million barrels per day in the second quarter. Investment reached a record GBP14.8 billion ($23 billion) last year, Oil and Gas UK now says. But the reality of oil prices halving, and staying that way, is hurting. That companies have hesitated to decommission aging facilities is perhaps unsurprising. Dismantling the offshore structures of a past era, […]