The North Sea Oil Field is No Longer 'Sweet': Industrial Transformation [Life-sized UK ⑩] Aberdeen

When people hear the word Scotland, oil might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, since the development of the North Sea oil fields in the 1970s, the UK has become a resource-rich nation with numerous offshore oil and gas fields in the waters off the coast of Scotland. The largest base for this is the city of Aberdeen in northern Scotland. Workboats began to frequent the port that once thrived on fishing and shipbuilding, and the influx of oil money changed not only the economy but also politics. Will the day come when Scotland becomes independent from the UK? The future of the North Sea oil fields is a key to considering this point.

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To the northernmost point of my life

I left Edinburgh behind and took a bus north through Scotland. There are two reasons why I included Aberdeen as a destination this time. First, as this place is called the oil capital of Europe, it has become an important hub for resource development. The other reason is simply that it is at a high latitude. If I was going to the UK anyway, I wanted to experience the changes in geography and townscapes by traveling extensively from south to north. Even if I didn't have enough time to reach the true northernmost point, I planned my itinerary to visit at least one city in the northern part of Scotland (the Highlands).

Aberdeen is located at 57° north latitude, far, far north of Hokkaido (41–45° north latitude). Checking a world map, the 57th parallel north that passes through Aberdeen is at a higher latitude than Copenhagen or Moscow (both at 55° north latitude). Major cities north of the 57th parallel are limited to places like Stockholm in Sweden and Saint Petersburg in Russia.

I know many friends who love to travel, but I doubt many have been this far north. Of course, it is an experience that can be easily surpassed if you have been to Northern Europe. At the very least, I was excited that day to be able to reach the northernmost point of my life.

The northern part of Scotland is covered with old mountains, and villages are scattered across plateaus and hills. Since it is not a young orogenic belt like Japan, the mountain shapes are gentle. The dry winter sky feels a bit bleak.

There are many large rivers in this area, and the roads running along the coast often pass over long bridges. The particularly eye-catching railway bridge is the Tay Bridge, which became the world's longest bridge when it was completed at the end of the 19th century. It spans an estuary where the river mouth opens like a trumpet, and it is 3 km long.

After a while, the bus stopped in a small town called Dundee. It is a region that once thrived on manufacturing, but industrial hollowing out has been progressing since the end of the 20th century, and the townscape looks desolate. In such former industrial areas, voters whose livelihoods have been squeezed have become politically radicalized, becoming the vanguard of independence movements and anti-immigrant sentiment. (Unlike rural Japan, which is aging) although there are many young people, I did not get the impression that it was very safe.

Once you pass the city, it immediately becomes the countryside again. Windmills catch your eye here and there. Because the UK has prevailing westerlies blowing from the Atlantic to the North Sea all year round, it is an optimal region for wind power generation. As of July 2026, gas (34%) and wind power (24%) account for the top two spots in domestic energy supply, and even in international comparisons, the share of wind power generation (in the power mix) is 6th in the world.

The spread of wind power generation is a policy that the government has strongly promoted, and it has significant public support. Although there are short-term fluctuation factors such as rising construction costs, it has steadily permeated over the past decade or so, and many onshore and offshore wind turbines have been built, mainly along the east coast. The new energy industry not only contributes to decarbonization but also creates new jobs through construction and maintenance. Now, the maintenance and inspection of offshore wind power is a major industry within the UK.

About three hours after leaving Edinburgh, I arrived in the city of Aberdeen. The outside air was cold, and I felt firsthand that I had traveled north. It was so cold that I couldn't walk outside without wearing a down jacket. There were water droplets from condensation on the inside of the windows.

The city of granite

Aberdeen is known as a city of granite. Granite produced in the vicinity is used as a common building material, and the city is based in white to gray wherever you look. The reason why so much granite is used may be related not only to its easy availability but also to adapting to the climate, such as heat storage indoors. Sturdy and crack-resistant granite would likely be resistant to temperature changes and freezing.

However, granite looks heavy. If it is used in prominent places like main streets or squares, it creates a dignified and formal atmosphere, but when used in narrow alleys, it feels oppressive. In fact, when sandwiched between granite buildings, it feels a bit suffocating, and the cold sky feels even colder. Perhaps it just doesn't suit me, but personally, I feel more at ease walking through the back alleys of a red-brick city like Manchester.

I have emphasized the cold too much, but considering the high latitude of 57 degrees north, the temperature in Aberdeen is actually not that low. Because the warm North Atlantic Current flows through, warm air easily flows in, and if anything, the temperature in winter is higher than in Sapporo. Comparing the average temperature in March, while Sapporo is 1.1°C to 2.0°C, Aberdeen is around 3 to 6°C. That it ispossible for people to live comfortably even at such a high latitude is thanks to the warm current.

Nevertheless, cold is cold. I went outside bundled up in a down jacket filled with feathers all the way to the collar. In the evening, a cold wind blows, and there is no warm sunshine. In the midst of this, I was shocked to be overtaken from behind by a group. Young women were walking around in revealing outfits that didn't even cover their shoulders or navels. Unbelievable. Why can they be so calm in this temperature dressed like it's midsummer? I might not be able to understand the youth of Scotland.

They were walking while talking loudly as if arguing, and all three of them were smoking vapes (e-cigarettes). I felt that their somewhat aggressive pace symbolized the current Aberdeen. Shops along the main street had shutters down here and there, and road construction was not progressing, with materials left as they were. The clock protruding into the street was broken and had stopped, pointing to the wrong time. Despite being in the center of the city, trash was scattered, there was a lot of graffiti, and I didn't get a very good impression.

The city's unemployment rate is not particularly high (it is higher in Glasgow and Dundee), and the industry is not hollowing out, butit is on a downward trend compared to its heyday, which is the current situation in recent years. Securing resources by relying solely on the North Sea oil field is becoming more difficult year by year, and production has continued to decline consistently since 2000. The UK was once even a net exporter of crude oil, but it is now a net importer again.

However, Aberdeen's role as a base for resource development has not ended. Looking down from the slope heading toward the sea, part of a large ship's hull could be seen through a gap in the buildings. It is about 200 km from Aberdeen to the base of the North Sea oil field, and ships entering and leaving this port are responsible for transporting development materials and personnel.

I visited a local shopping mall after sunset. There were so many cars lined up in the vast parking lot that it was almost full, and the inside of the building was bustling with families and young people. This place also has a sense of luxury, and I didn't get the impression that it was deserted at all.

Perhaps most of the customers are people who came from the suburbs. There must be many cases where they drove from their homes in the suburbs and came out for an outing with their families.The fact that the shopping mall looks lively in contrast to the declining city centermay be due to this difference in customer base.

In fact, when checking theincome map of the Aberdeen city area, there is a tendency for the average income to be higher for residents in the suburbs, and it can be inferred that many of the customers visiting the shopping mall are wealthy people living in the suburbs. The exceptional liveliness of the deserted city was brought about from the suburbs. On the other hand, the city center is increasingly showing signs of hollowing out in terms of industry and employment.

Empty city center

The next morning, seeing the granite illuminated by the sun, my impression changed a little. It is still heavy, but when the sunlight illuminates the white crystals in the granite, it shines and looks whitish. This is certainly beautiful. Since the building material is granite everywhere, the cityscape has a sense of unity that can never be seen in other cities.

The cityscape of Aberdeen is probably not a landscape that is associated with the UK. If I had been shown this photo before I knew about Aberdeen, I would have thought it was somewhere in Russia or Northern Europe.

It was already 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning, yet there were few people on Union Street in the city center. It is natural for the sun to be low in a high-latitude region during winter, but the deserted scene felt as quiet as 6 o'clock in the morning. It seems no shops open until 11 o'clock. Is this typical for the countryside? That said, the rural village I stayed in a few days ago was livelier and started its day earlier. Aberdeen has so many buildings anddespite looking like a grand city, it has a strangely lonely impression.

Aberdeen's city center is lined only with low-rise shops, and there are no large offices where white-collar workers would head. This is because there is no industry in the heart of the city. Looking at the statistics, the working population is skewed toward mining and manufacturing at 12.7%, which is more than 60 times (about 63.5 times) the national average of 0.2%. Conversely, the concentration of high-level service sectors is low, and many related offices and technical hubs are located in business parks on the outskirts. There are no facilities in the center of Aberdeen, such as office buildings, that generate significant employment.

Since no shops were open and I had nowhere to go, I killed time by walking around the church garden. On a bench, a woman was scattering feed, gathering dozens of pigeons. I passed a homeless person rummaging through a trash can and made my way to the street while keeping my distance from a group of alcoholics with their arms around each other, holding drinks. It is not a particularly dangerous area, but I felt the sense of insecurity unique to a declining city.

Industrial Structural Transition

By the time I finished a late breakfast of a sandwich, it was past 12 o'clock. Now that it was finally opening time, I headed to the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, which I had been eyeing for some time. It is a museum with extensive exhibits on Aberdeen's industrial history and the development of the North Sea oil fields. It also introduces basic knowledge about the ocean in general, as well as maritime accidents and rescue operations.

Aberdeen was once a quiet fishing village. For such a region, the 'first oil industry' was whaling. Whales were not just for meat; they also provided industrial oil. In fact, the primary purpose of whaling in Europe was to obtain whale oil. While whaling was a high-paying job, it was naturally very dangerous, and many never returned. Then as now, danger is inherent in working at sea.

Eventually, Aberdeen prospered through the shipbuilding industry. It is said that about 1,000 tall ships were built in Aberdeen in the 19th century. Facing the North Sea, Aberdeen was close to the Scandinavian Peninsula and became a gateway to Northern Europe and Denmark via the North Sea. Furthermore, Aberdeen's shipbuilding supported the shipping of the British Empire and indirectly contributed to exploitative trade and the transport of weapons.

Aberdeen's industry has always had a close relationship with the North Sea. Not only was the former fishing industry based at sea, but the subsequent shipbuilding and oil industries are all related to the sea. As for the wind power generation currently undergoing a transition, offshore wind power is also inseparable from the sea.Aberdeen is a city that has changed its industrial structure with each era while utilizing the North Sea that spreads out before its eyes.

Aberdeen actually has a connection to Japan. Thomas Glover, who brought shipbuilding and coal mining technology to Nagasaki and contributed to Japan's modernization, was from this city. He is the same Glover famous for the 'Glover Garden' in Nagasaki. After arriving in Japan, he mastered the Japanese language and interacted with the Japanese people while well-understanding the political situation of the time. Although he was originally an arms merchant, he was also involved in the founding and management of shipyards and coal mines. The Aberdeen Maritime Museum has an exhibit on Glover, introducing his ties to Japan.

Shallow Seas and the North Sea Oil Field

Now, the greatest significance of visiting this museum is to deepen one's understanding of the North Sea oil fields. Development of the North Sea oil fields began in the 1960s, and extraction went into full swing in the 1970s during the oil crisis. They span the economic zones of countries such as the UK, Norway, and Denmark, and numerous drilling rigs have been built at sea. Pipelines running along the seabed supply the extracted oil and natural gas resources directly to each country.

For Europe, which had been hit by the oil shock due to its reliance on Middle Eastern oil, the discovery of the North Sea oil fields wasa stroke of luck that could be called a 'windfall'. At that time, there were geographical conditions that made oil field development possible. That is the shallowness of the seabed. It is well known that the British coastline has shallow waters extending everywhere, and the North Sea also has a wide continental shelf. If you look at a 3D map, you can clearly see that the seabed is shallow and continuous from the UK to the continent.

Shallow seabeds work to the advantage of resource development. This is because underground resources lie beneath the seabed. The North Sea oil field is a "seabed" oil field. Equipment is extended from offshore bases deep into the ocean, and once it reaches the seabed, drilling continues until oil gushes out. For seabed oil fields that require drilling deep underground, development becomes difficult if the water is too deep. Even for a North Sea oil platform, the total height is 254 meters, and the drill extends more than 3,000 meters underground (in the case of the Murchison oil field). The oil platforms often seen in photos are only the upper parts that appear above the sea (the "tip of the iceberg," so to speak), and beneath them, drills extending several kilometers are hidden.

Shallow seabeds also have benefits other than oil field development. Aberdeen has traditionally been prosperous in fishing, but because sunlight easily reaches the seabed on the shallow continental shelf, it is rich in plankton and has high potential as a fishing ground. Also, when constructing offshore wind power, which is currently undergoing a transition, it is easier to build infrastructure such as undersea cables when the water is shallow.The shallow sea is the very characteristic of the North Sea, and it has been the background for the industry of each era. Even though industries change, it can be said that the shallowness of the North Sea creating these favorable conditions remains unchanged.

The North Sea oil field pipelines do not extend directly to Aberdeen, but Aberdeen serves as a mooring base for standby vessels so that they can respond immediately if an accident occurs. Looking out from the museum, several ships were moored in a narrow, excavated dock. The chilly combination of white hulls and blue sky is truly characteristic of ships heading to the North Sea.

Is relying on resources a "sweet deal"?

The discovery of the North Sea oil field literally changed Scottish politics. Since forming a personal union with England in the 17th century, Scotland has been almost integrated with England to the south, becoming a constituent part of the United Kingdom. However, since the North Sea oil field got on track, forces advocating for independence from the UK have gained presence in Scotland.

They argue that through independence, Scotland could monopolize the interests of resource development and receive greater returns. Due to historical resentment toward England and the exhilaration of seeing the possibility of self-reliance, the momentum of the independence movement is strong. A young female staff member I spoke with inside the museum was also confident, saying, "The shipbuilding and fishing industries are in decline, butthe oil and gas industry still has great power."

Given these circumstances,Scottish politics has walked the path toward self-reliance from the UK over the past 30 years or so. In 1999, a separate Scottish Parliament was revived, and powers such as education, welfare, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and culture were devolved from Westminster (Nakamura, 2022, p.223). The revival of the parliament was the first time in about three centuries, and it became a major turning point that gave Scotland the right to self-determination. Eventually, the regional party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), made great strides in elections, and in recent years, the party has continuously produced the First Minister of Scotland.

However, in the 2014 referendum on independence from the UK, 55% voted against independence, and independence was not achieved. There are various factors, but a major one was that the future vision after independence was unclear. Even if they were to become independent, what would happen to tariffs and economic policies? Is the North Sea oil field really rock-solid? There were too many uncertain factors.

Two years later, in 2016, the UK left the EU due to Brexit, so it was also pointed out that Scotland, where many people want to remain in the EU, might become independent from the UK and aim to rejoin the EU. However, in that case, political turmoil and difficult negotiations like those caused by Brexit would be unavoidable. Now that the difficulty of that is understood, Scottish independence should be viewed with an even stricter eye than before. When it comes to national matters where economic interests and distribution are intricately intertwined, unlike human relationships, you cannot simply cut ties.

Also,the North Sea oil field does not provide as much leeway as the independence movement claims. No one knows when it will run dry, and production continues to decline. Since not only the Scottish government but also the UK government and English companies are heavily involved in the investment, it is difficult for Scotland alone to monopolize it. Therefore, the argument for North Sea oil field funding is nothing more than a"sweet deal" politically brought up by the independence movement. Recently, in Japan, rare earths were found on Minami-Torishima, causing some excitement, but isn't that becoming a "sweet deal" wrapped in the politics of "not having to rely on China"? While resource development and self-reliance are important, overestimating the current situation is forbidden.

As mentioned at the beginning, in recent years, there has been a global shift toward renewable energy. Aberdeen is not just relying on oil fields, but is also accepting next-generation industries such as wind power. I understand the desire to jump on a "sweet deal," butthe history of Aberdeen is one that has continued precisely because of the transition of its industrial structure. Development that makes use of the shallow sea will continue to be possible. It is necessary to take "sweet deals" in moderation and look forward.

Bus not moving, fights, and police trouble

I left the museum and hurried back to the bus terminal. I was heading to Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, on an afternoon flight. But no matter how long I waited, the bus didn't come. When I checked my email, it seemed the flight I had booked had been canceled, and I was transferred to a flight an hour and a half later for free. I've had traffic trouble since I headed to Edinburgh, and I'm out of luck. I waited for time to pass in the bus terminal where the cold wind was blowing.

The next bus I had been waiting for departed without any problems. Both the view from the window and the inside of the bus were quite peaceful. I thought that now I could finally reach Glasgow with a calm mind.

However, that tranquility was shattered when the bus stopped in the small town of Dundee. Two young women in eccentric fashion boarded the bus and started acting like fools. They played music on their smartphones, sang and danced at an impossible volume, and kept barging into various seats to harass the passengers. They definitely couldn't be doing this while sober. Watching the whole thing from the back seat, I initially thought this was just what rowdy young people were like, but I began to be convinced that they couldn't be making this much noise without alcohol or drugs. By the way, for some reason, the two women were incredibly thin and petite. There was no scary atmosphere, but it was simply a huge mess on the bus and a nuisance.

I thought this kind of situation was the real thrill of traveling abroad and intended to endure it until Glasgow, but halfway through, the bus driver lost his patience and stopped the bus in a parking lot along the way. He said he was going to call the police. Before long,a police car actually arrived. Several police cars wrapped in yellow and red stopped right next to the bus. This is truly a first for me. The police officers took the two women outside, and questioning began.

I didn't pay much attention to it, but it seemed that many of the passengers, like the driver, thought these two women should be kicked out by the police. Many passengers stood up inside the bus to watch the questioning that had started outside, becoming onlookers. The passengers who had been harboring frustration were giggling as if to say, 'serves them right'.

However, the next incident occurred. Apart from the two women from earlier, a tough-looking man with tattoos started fighting with his girlfriend who was sitting next to him. For some reason, the tattooed man was shirtless, and his girlfriend, who had dyed her hair green, was wearing so many false eyelashes that her eyes were invisible.

From the time the two women started wrecking the bus, this tattooed man had been accumulating frustration and giving off a dangerous vibe, and my premonition came true. Irritated by the stalled bus, he shouted, 'Just take us to Glasgow already,' andwhen his girlfriend tried to calm him down, he flew into a rage and a huge fight broke out. The woman started crying, and the tattooed man raised his voice even more. Gradually, he started taking his anger out on those around him. I don't understand Scottish English, so I don't really know what he was saying, but the tattooed man was putting 'f**kin' at the beginning of every word he uttered. It was complete chaos.

It was another passenger who put an end to the situation. A man who had been targeted by the tattooed man's angerprovoked him in the middle of the bus, and they exchanged some impressive punches. It was a fistfight straight out of an action movie. Blood poured from the tattooed man's nose, and screams erupted from the passengers. An elderly woman who had been watching the whole thing nearby turned bright red and shrieked like she had lost her mind. Hey, if you're that loud, you're going to get hit too. I watched, holding my breath.

The police immediately boarded and subdued the tattooed man. The man, fueled by his momentum, put up a desperate resistance, and several police officers pinned him to the asphalt ground. The number of arrests increased again. The two women were still being dealt with by the police. To that, an even more violent-looking tattooed man was added. It seems the police officers' work is never done.

As for me, although I was surprised because the turn of events was so unexpected, my biggest concern was whether I would be able to make it to Glasgow that day. As time passed, the other passengers also began to worry about themselves, and started talking, saying, 'What should we do?' and 'What about the next bus...?' A black man who was on his way to travel said, 'Well, this turned into quite a mess (laughs),' and was nonchalant. The elderly women were still breathing heavily, but a sense of unity gradually began to emerge among us who shared the same fate.

Scotland today is by no means doing well. Stable employment is limited, and there are many young people who end up in police custody due to drug addiction or petty crime. I don't know how rare the experience I had on this bus is, but since I arrived in Aberdeen, I had a vague impression that it was a decaying place, so I didn't find the occurrence of such a situation all that strange. I had felt a dangerous scent somewhere all along.The idea that Britain's old industrial zones have become a 'broken society'is a point that has been made for over a decade, and I felt like I was able to see a piece of that.

By the way, will I be able to reach Glasgow?

To be continued...

[References]

• Takafumi Nakamura (2022) 'The Story of Scottish History: A Proud Country Within the UK', Chuokoron-Shinsha.

• "Live GB Electricity Generation, Carbon Intensity & Demand." Energy Dashboard, https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/live. Accessed 29 July 2026.