Prime minister Harold Wilson referred to 3 November 1975 as the dawning of a new revolution. It was on that day that the Queen pushed a gold-plated button at BP's Aberdeen control centre, and began the flow of British North Sea oil.
Well, almost. The oil had, in fact, been flowing for a while already, but nobody let that spoil the celebrations. Her Majesty called it a day of "outstanding significance in the history of the United Kingdom".
The oil everyone was getting so excited about was coming from the Forties oil field in the British section of the North Sea. In 1970, two and a half billion barrels of recoverable crude oil was discovered in the sandstone rock thousands of metres below the sea.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
BP tapped the reservoir and built the Forties Pipeline System, connecting the oil field with Aberdeen 110 miles to the west.
The discovery must have seemed like poetic justice. Just two years before the inauguration, Britain was forced to ration electricity after the oil-producing cartel, Opec, imposed an embargo on the West. The Guardian wrote somewhat ruefully at the time, "By the end of the decade, we can snub our noses at the Organisation of Petroleum-Exporting Countries".
However, almost as an afterthought, the paper tempered its zeal, conceding that "By Opec standards we are not much to worry about with only 2% of the world oil reserves". Forties production peaked in 1979 at around half a million barrels a day.
In 2003, BP sold its 96% stake in Forties to Apache for £812m a deal akin to 'selling the family silver', as some pundits put it. And indeed, the deal turned out to be a good one for Apache. The company based out of Texas found another 800 million barrels, extending the oil field's life by 20 years.
Today, production at Forties has greatly diminished from its peak in the late 1970s, yielding closer to around 40,000 barrels a day.
-
Nvidia's earnings live: China trade the key question for semiconductor giant’s resultsNvidia's shares have opened strongly ahead of its earnings, as analysts question whether Blackwell sales can make up for lost China revenue following Trump’s trade crackdown
-
8 of the best lakeside properties for saleThe best lakeside properties – from a house on the southeastern shore of Loch Lomond, to a 15th-century hall overlooking a lake in King’s Lynn, Norfolk
-
31 August 1957: the Federation of Malaya declares independence from the UKFeatures On this day in 1957, after ten years of preparation, the Federation of Malaya became an independent nation.
-
13 April 1960: the first satellite navigation system is launchedFeatures On this day in 1960, Nasa sent the Transit 1B satellite into orbit to provide positioning for the US Navy’s fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.
-
9 April 1838: National Gallery opens in Trafalgar SquareFeatures On this day in 1838, William Wilkins’ new National Gallery building in Trafalgar Square opened to the public.
-
3 March 1962: British Antarctic Territory is createdFeatures On this day in 1962, Britain formed the British Antarctic Territory administered from the Falkland Islands.
-
10 March 2000: the dotcom bubble peaks
Features Tech mania fanned by the dawning of the internet age inflated the dotcom bubble to maximum extent, on this day in 2000.
-
9 March 1776: Adam Smith publishes 'The Wealth of Nations'
Features On this day in 1776, Adam Smith, the “father of modern economics”, published his hugely influential book The Wealth of Nations.
-
8 March 1817: the New York Stock Exchange is formedFeatures On this day in 1817, a group of brokers moved out of a New York coffee house to form what would become the biggest stock exchange in the world.
-
7 March 1969: Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Victoria Line
Features On this day in 1969, Queen Elizabeth II took only her second trip on the tube to officially open the underground’s newest line – the Victoria Line.
