:00:08. > :00:11.many a minister and their civil Tonight on Newsnight Scotland, the
:00:11. > :00:15.latest on the North Sea gas leak. Is this a minor incident, as Total
:00:15. > :00:19.hopes and believes? Or could it turn into something much more
:00:19. > :00:24.serious? Also tonight, an experiment on Bute might pave the
:00:25. > :00:27.way for a decent broadband services all over the Scottish countryside.
:00:27. > :00:31.Good evening. There is still a cloud of poisonous and explosive
:00:31. > :00:34.gas seeping out of the North Sea, and to the best of our knowledge,
:00:34. > :00:37.there is still a flare of flaming gas just a few hundred metres away
:00:37. > :00:40.from it. There is universal satisfaction that there is no
:00:40. > :00:48.immediate threat to human lives, but it is still unclear exactly how
:00:48. > :00:54.serious the leak at the Elgin platform will prove to be.
:00:54. > :00:59.There are three issues here. What is happening with the gas leak, how
:00:59. > :01:07.to spot it and what they have been telling us about what they are too.
:01:07. > :01:11.Here they were on Monday. platform, all the power was
:01:11. > :01:15.isolated so that there were no sources of ignition. That reduces
:01:16. > :01:21.the chance of ignition. I can't promise it will not ignite, but we
:01:21. > :01:30.have minimised the risk. But we learnt last night, as confirmed by
:01:30. > :01:34.the oil company, that there is a flair still burning on the Elgin.
:01:34. > :01:37.By saying we have switched off all normal sources of ignition, we are
:01:37. > :01:43.saying we have switched off all sources of electricity in those
:01:43. > :01:47.areas. The flair is designed to get rid of gas coming out of the
:01:47. > :01:51.process under those conditions. It is a normal thing to operate at
:01:51. > :01:56.that time. Which prompted the Scottish government to call for
:01:56. > :01:59.full disclosure. Total are concentrating their efforts on
:01:59. > :02:03.trying to fix the problem, but they have to put all the information
:02:03. > :02:08.they have into the public domain and appeared to the principle of
:02:08. > :02:13.openness and transparency. industry claims Total has been
:02:13. > :02:18.concentrating on what really matters. It has conducted itself in
:02:18. > :02:24.an exemplary fashion as far as safety is concerned. 230 people
:02:24. > :02:28.were safely evacuated. This is the latest image released by Total of
:02:28. > :02:32.the completely deserted Elgin. It is not obvious from the picture
:02:32. > :02:37.that the flair is still a light, but we are assured it is. It is
:02:37. > :02:40.also not obvious what happens next. Events in the North Sea oil fields
:02:40. > :02:43.are also watched closely from the other side of the sea. A short
:02:43. > :02:45.while ago, I spoke to the President of the Bellona Foundation, a
:02:45. > :02:55.Norwegian based environmental organisation based in Oslo. I asked
:02:55. > :03:01.
:03:01. > :03:06.for his assessment of the situation. If we are lucky, this is a pocket.
:03:06. > :03:10.If it were to go empty, that would be the best scenario. If we were
:03:10. > :03:16.down to one of these high temperature, high-pressure
:03:16. > :03:20.reservoirs, for example if it started to leak and there was
:03:20. > :03:25.pressure from one of these reservoirs, that is the road to
:03:25. > :03:32.hell and then you are really in trouble. But we are not seen a
:03:32. > :03:39.dramatic increase of the leak during the last 24 hours. But we
:03:39. > :03:47.know it will be very complicated to work with any kind of operations to
:03:47. > :03:50.stop this leak. On the Flat, if this should continue burning for a
:03:50. > :03:57.several days, Total are saying at the moment they are not so worried
:03:57. > :04:00.about it because the wind is blowing the cloud of gas a way. The
:04:00. > :04:04.must be worried that the weather will eventually change. Is there
:04:04. > :04:11.any way you can put out a flower without putting someone onto the
:04:11. > :04:18.platform of? It is very complicated. When they abandoned the platform on
:04:18. > :04:22.Monday morning, people had been fighting for 15 hours to get the
:04:22. > :04:31.situation under control after people reported bubbling in the
:04:31. > :04:36.water of. Their chances to do anything are limited. The CEOs of
:04:36. > :04:42.Total have confirmed that it may be a long operation. The best chance
:04:42. > :04:51.we have to avoid that is if the leak is coming from the pocket was
:04:51. > :04:57.of wire -- reservoir, or part of the reservoir is empty. But there
:04:57. > :05:01.is no information on that, and that worries me. You seem to be
:05:01. > :05:08.suggesting that, should the pocket not empty itself within the next
:05:08. > :05:13.few days, and should there be a necessity of digging a relief well,
:05:13. > :05:20.that might only be possible by deliberately setting the gas on
:05:20. > :05:26.fire so that vessels can move into the area? That is true. If this is
:05:26. > :05:33.coming directly from a high pressure reservoir down there, for
:05:33. > :05:43.example if they are connected to the Franklin West, that could last
:05:43. > :05:44.
:05:44. > :05:48.for many years. The drilling platform they have ordered is
:05:48. > :05:53.absolutely capable of drilling down to this depth. The question is, how
:05:53. > :06:00.far do they have to stay away? Because if you have several days
:06:00. > :06:04.with no wind and the gas leaks, or you have a build-up of pressure
:06:04. > :06:09.under geological formations because of underground leaks that could
:06:09. > :06:18.burst, you have to be quite far away. That is one of the big
:06:18. > :06:23.choices Total will now face, how close they go. South to stay last
:06:23. > :06:27.question. This particular platform was very high-tech when the wells
:06:27. > :06:32.were drilled. Looking at some of the technical information that
:06:32. > :06:35.Total have produced, it seems that they came across technical problems
:06:35. > :06:40.later with these high pressure, high temperature Wells, that they
:06:40. > :06:46.had not anticipated when they killed them. We saw the incident
:06:46. > :06:49.two years ago. Are you worried that as we become more and more high
:06:49. > :06:58.tech, because reserves are more and more difficult to get out, the
:06:58. > :07:04.danger of serious incidence is increasing? This is very serious.
:07:04. > :07:14.And again, to drill in such high temperature reservoirs is a risky
:07:14. > :07:17.
:07:17. > :07:21.sport. I am not so sure that there are a lot off easy oil sources left.
:07:21. > :07:28.We need political discussions over what kind of regulations we should
:07:28. > :07:35.have in the European Union on this very complicated, high risk action.
:07:35. > :07:41.As in the Deepwater Horizon, we see that gas leaks from offshore
:07:41. > :07:47.platforms could be very complicated to drill relief wells. We have
:07:47. > :07:52.criticised this in no way, places which have similar problems if a
:07:52. > :07:56.gas leak occurs, to get close enough to drill tests at the risk
:07:56. > :08:06.of an explosion. This is one of the things that has been underestimated
:08:06. > :08:08.
:08:08. > :08:12.by the government and by the oil I am joined now by Inverness by the
:08:12. > :08:19.energy consultant Tony Mackay who has been walking on North Sea oil
:08:19. > :08:23.forecasts for Scottish Enterprise. The last point made by a Frederic
:08:23. > :08:28.Hauge, that we are getting into areas of technology which we have
:08:28. > :08:33.not really explored before. And that there has not been much debate
:08:33. > :08:43.about whether this is desirable for. Well, we have had nearly 40 years
:08:43. > :08:47.of production from the North Sea. Most of the fields and a declining.
:08:48. > :08:54.The companies on exploring these more difficult fields, the high
:08:54. > :08:58.pressure or high-temperature fields like Elgin. And more recently, the
:08:58. > :09:05.deep-water fields to the west of Shetland. They are certainly moving
:09:05. > :09:10.towards a more technologically difficult fields. But Elgin has
:09:10. > :09:14.been producing for 10 years without problems so this is a very unusual
:09:14. > :09:19.problem. It is true that it has been producing for a decade without
:09:19. > :09:25.problems but it would appear that Total's own engineers run across
:09:25. > :09:32.problems when it came to this business of what they call him-
:09:32. > :09:38.filling Wellss -- infilling Wells. And there have clearly run into
:09:38. > :09:43.problems when they tried to kill off these wells. Just as these
:09:43. > :09:47.wells have run in production terms in terms of 10 years, does not mean
:09:47. > :09:54.there's and no problems when you try to stop them. I agree but we
:09:54. > :09:59.must accept that working in the North say is a risky business.
:09:59. > :10:04.You're working in the sea and working with oil and gas which are
:10:04. > :10:10.volatile hydro-carbons. But the problems we have had in the North
:10:10. > :10:15.Sea over the past 20-30 years since Piper Alpha up on a relatively
:10:15. > :10:20.small scale. More fishermen are killed in the North Sea every year
:10:20. > :10:25.and people working in the oil and gas industries. I think the
:10:25. > :10:30.industry's track record since Piper Alpha has been very good. I am an
:10:30. > :10:36.economist, not an engineer but so far I think that Total have handled
:10:36. > :10:46.this problem with Elgin very well. This business about decommissioning,
:10:46. > :10:54.will that be one of the big things? Over the next few years? Yes, it is
:10:54. > :10:58.a mature province in the North Sea. A lot of the fields are very near
:10:58. > :11:03.the end of their productive life. The Brent oilfield for example I
:11:03. > :11:09.think will finish very soon. That has been producing for 30 years and
:11:09. > :11:16.will the big markets and opportunities over the next decades
:11:16. > :11:22.will be removing the pipelines and platforms. Obviously not Elgin
:11:22. > :11:28.unless there's a big disaster in the next few weeks. We must accept
:11:28. > :11:33.that we have had a long history in the North Sea oil industry and it
:11:33. > :11:39.is the only declining. That presumably is a business
:11:39. > :11:46.opportunity as well. Yes, surprisingly the industry is going
:11:46. > :11:52.through a boom period at the moment because of the higher oil prices.
:11:52. > :12:00.If you're buying petrol or diesel you will understand that. But
:12:00. > :12:04.because of the high prices, a lot of the fields that determined
:12:04. > :12:07.things whether they were economically viable are now being
:12:07. > :12:14.developed for the next few years we will have a high level of capital
:12:14. > :12:19.expenditure. After that, say 2015 onwards, one of the biggest growth
:12:19. > :12:27.markets unfortunately is going to be a removal of the platforms -
:12:27. > :12:34.Brent and 40s and a lot of the oil field. The platforms will have to
:12:34. > :12:38.be removed, the top signs removed, a lot of decontamination and it
:12:38. > :12:41.will be a big market for the next decade. Tony Mackay, thank you 4-
:12:41. > :12:46.joining us. The problems of bringing fast
:12:46. > :12:50.internet to rural areas are of special interest in Scotland given
:12:50. > :12:56.that outside the main centres of population they are in a lot of
:12:56. > :13:03.wide open space. An experiment is under way on the Isle of Bute to
:13:04. > :13:13.use old broadcast frequencies to deliver super-fast broadband. Our
:13:13. > :13:18.reporter has been there to see it Good communications, whether the
:13:18. > :13:22.traditional ferry or super-fast problem, I especially important for
:13:22. > :13:26.island communities. Cut off the Paris service and the island is in
:13:26. > :13:31.trouble. In the modern area, if the rural areas cannot show the
:13:31. > :13:36.benefits of broadband, the impact is digital isolation. -- cannot
:13:36. > :13:40.share the benefits. There's no question that this is beautiful but
:13:40. > :13:45.also it is remote in a digital cent. More of us use devices like this to
:13:45. > :13:49.communicate, share and connect with the world. And if you do not have
:13:50. > :13:53.broadband it is hard to take part. At the southern end of Bute, a
:13:53. > :13:57.quiet revolution is under way which is already transforming lives and
:13:58. > :14:02.ultimately aims to do the same across more of rural Scotland. For
:14:02. > :14:07.example, the local hotel almost became the pub with no beer because
:14:07. > :14:14.of a local problem. With the internet we had before, it was a
:14:14. > :14:18.nightmare. It was going to become very difficult to order a beer the
:14:18. > :14:22.way our suppliers are pushing us to use online ordering. I don't like
:14:22. > :14:32.ordering over the phone and the representatives are visiting less
:14:32. > :14:32.
:14:32. > :14:36.so without broadband it would The experiment on Bute uses what is
:14:36. > :14:38.called white space - gaps in the former broadcaster air waves which
:14:39. > :14:43.are increasingly available due to the switchover to digital
:14:43. > :14:46.television. It works like this. A dedicated transmitter on the
:14:46. > :14:50.mainland beams a signal to an exchange building on Bute which
:14:50. > :14:55.then provides broadband internet access to local residents. If it
:14:55. > :15:05.can be shown to work reliably, it is a much cheaper option for a
:15:05. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:18.rural community than using an This is a great technology for the
:15:18. > :15:22.moment. Pushing out into the country. We are up against
:15:22. > :15:25.boundaries and this takes us that little bit further. It gives us a
:15:25. > :15:30.service to the people at the edge of the network and eventually the
:15:30. > :15:34.new technologies will push things a bit further and they will be taken
:15:34. > :15:38.over but at the moment as a stop gap, it certainly helps these
:15:38. > :15:42.communities especially in rural areas. The transmitter at the local
:15:42. > :15:46.exchange relays the high-speed connection to local residents who
:15:46. > :15:52.need special equipment to get hooked up. It all seems to work.
:15:52. > :15:58.And this is what it looks like if you send a clip recorded on your
:15:58. > :16:01.iPad or iPhone or of the device into the system and then by e-mail,
:16:01. > :16:06.you can get a video out of Bute and do it streaming as well. A couple
:16:06. > :16:13.of miles away, online form-filling for animal passports and the
:16:13. > :16:21.ability to do general research on stock is changing one lives on one
:16:21. > :16:27.local farm. Looking back at the depth of pedigree and cattle, it is
:16:27. > :16:35.a lot handier than doing it on paper. Has your life changed?
:16:36. > :16:41.life has not changed, maybe my wife and cats just have a few more
:16:41. > :16:46.options are doing things with them. You are still dealing with animals,
:16:46. > :16:53.not faced like working like mad or tweeting? No, nothing like that at
:16:53. > :16:59.all. This Skype call from the middle of nowhere worked fine but
:16:59. > :17:07.his white space really the shape of things to come? That is the Isle of
:17:07. > :17:11.And number of technologies are being used to fill in this gap that
:17:11. > :17:16.will never get fibre networks. We have got this, white space,
:17:16. > :17:18.satellites, people are talking about using 3G. In a sense, they
:17:18. > :17:22.will all be intermediate technologies because you can see
:17:22. > :17:26.the demand for proper fibre building. Once people get people a
:17:26. > :17:36.bit better, they want to move on to the next stage. There will be
:17:36. > :17:40.pressure. It might be intermediate This and this where both
:17:40. > :17:44.revolutionary in their day and it is hard to think of life without
:17:44. > :17:49.the postal service or telephones. Nowt the need for broadband is not
:17:49. > :17:53.far behind but the economics remain a massive challenge. It is part of
:17:53. > :18:00.working with the Government, they have got a strong strategy in
:18:00. > :18:06.Scotland to deliver future broadband services so we must see
:18:06. > :18:16.how we can fit this into the mix. Industry investment will be
:18:16. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:21.important but it's at important So far, nobody has worked out had
:18:21. > :18:25.to move an island. Even if they wanted to so even with their
:18:25. > :18:29.regular every service, Bute will always be geographically remote but
:18:29. > :18:38.the experiment here shows that technology can close the digital
:18:38. > :18:45.divide and in that sense at least, Bute is not so far down the water.
:18:45. > :18:50.Tomorrow's front pages - the Herald leads on the story of Cameron under
:18:50. > :18:56.fire about buying petrol panic and the picture is of a queue at a
:18:57. > :19:02.petrol station in Edinburgh. The Scotsman - the same story, petrol
:19:02. > :19:07.sales soar by 45% as drivers panic with the same picture in Edinburgh.
:19:07. > :19:12.UK Government accused of stoking fuel crisis as Union prepares for
:19:12. > :19:16.talks. The Guardian leads on of a Council of Europe report on
:19:16. > :19:23.Refugees, a dark day for Europe verdict on the refugee boat left to
:19:23. > :19:33.die. That is all we have time for, we will be back tomorrow, and until
:19:33. > :19:36.We are going to see some changes with our weather for the weekend
:19:36. > :19:40.before Thursday, think more of the same. A chilly start and then
:19:40. > :19:46.plenty of sunshine. More cloud across western Scotland and the
:19:46. > :19:53.north -- west coast of Northern Ireland. Another sparkling day in
:19:53. > :19:57.England. Temperatures reaching 21 degrees and further south, we could
:19:57. > :20:02.see temperatures of 23 degrees. A bit more of a breeze across parts
:20:02. > :20:06.of Cornwall. Coming in from the north or north-west means the coast
:20:06. > :20:10.of Wales will be a bit cooler although the south coast could see
:20:10. > :20:14.temperatures of 22 Celsius. Lots of sunshine here and across most of
:20:14. > :20:19.Northern Ireland but a change on the northern coast. A cooler day
:20:19. > :20:23.here. A cloudy day in the western coasts of Scotland. Through the
:20:23. > :20:27.central belt and much of the north- east tippled again be fine on
:20:28. > :20:35.Sunday. We will see increasing amounts of cloud as north-western
:20:35. > :20:38.areas could be a great day. -- a dull day. Temperatures low on
:20:38. > :20:41.Friday in the south but essentially another fine day with more spring
:20:41. > :20:46.sunshine to be had. The area of cloud across the north-west
:20:46. > :20:48.expanding into parts of northern and western Wales and generally a