At one point, there were more custom ordered Ferraris in Aberdeen than anywhere else in the world. Old wives’ tale? Maybe, but it stands as a far cry from the Aberdeen we see today.
The closing of libraries, the destruction of green spaces in poverty-stricken areas and the struggles of some of the oldest community institutions provides a stark contrast to the £31.5 billion in profit that BP has made over the last two years.
I’ve lived in Aberdeen since I was 17 and I love it, I’d like to discuss the reasons for the brutal decline of the city over the last 15 years or so and the solutions that present themselves going forward.
The obvious place to start is looking at the decline of the historical industries that are associated with Aberdeen. The so-called ‘Granite City’ is famous for the towering, ashen coloured buildings that sparkle in the sun, but granite quarrying has seen a massive downturn since the 1970s. More notable, has been the well documented issue of the oil and gas industry in the North. As the climate question moves closer to the forefront of people’s minds and the Middle East becomes the new hub of fossil fuel production, the North East oil industry has suffered real problems. For the people of Aberdeen, however, the hope is for business to continue as usual. In a string of streetside interviews Energy Voice found that the majority of interviewees remained in favour of continuing the production of oil and gas into the future.
One individual claimed ‘It will boost our economy’. However, the numbers don’t lie.
Since 2010, a total of 9,000 jobs in the oil industry have been lost, alongside a staggering 30% reduction of workers in the retail sector.
The oil production in the North East is past its peak, going from 1.7 billion barrels produced daily in 1999 to 552 million in 2022. At present, the industry is expected to be producing as little as 58 million barrels of oil per year by 2050. This decline will be disastrous for the city and yet, as far as I’m aware, many seem under the impression that everything is fine. The general consensus amongst those in favour of continuing endeavours in the industry seems to be that if Aberdeen commits to staying the path, oil will materialise and companies won’t be tempted by the cheaper opportunities offered further afield.
Problems with oil and gas are symptomatic of a wider problem in the Granite City. Aberdeen was the worst hit area in Britain in the 2008 financial crash, the city’s population £45,000 worse off as a result.
Since 2010 the Gross Domestic Income for the average Aberdeen family in real terms is down 6.7% and 16% of 20–29-year-olds have left the city, brutally eating into the number of quality graduates produced by Aberdeen’s historic academic institutions.
The tightening of purse strings is evident most of all in the finances of Aberdeen City Council, where an eye-watering £40 million is being primed for slashing from this year’s budget on top of £46.6 million worth of cuts from last year.
The battle for Aberdeen’s libraries has been lost, the fight for St. Fittick’s park in Torry is dominating our news, and the empty shops on the city’s famous Union Street all act as further incrimination for the brutalisation of the community.
This is further evident on a smaller level, I spoke to Aberdeen Grammar’s club captain and community stalwart in the Rubislaw area, Jack Burnett. He told me that ‘In the last 12 years I’ve seen a decline in sponsorship’ which ‘in the mid-2010s…came from energy companies”. ‘I’d also say that the oil and gas industry used to bring in players from overseas to Aberdeen who otherwise may not have come to live here”.
While Aberdeen’s public services and community institutions are struggling, it is increasingly difficult to justify the £60 million worth of taxpayer money that has been funnelled into the immensely unpopular Energy Transition Zone – a privately owned project dedicated to the transition of energy in the North East – in Torry.
This begs the question of what solutions there are to reignite the flame in the city’s struggling local economy. The answer, as much opposition that may be thrown at it, lies in the renewables sector. Founded in 2003, the Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group is an organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of renewable energy in the North East. As of 2020, offshore wind turbines have contributed an astonishing £2.4 billion to the economy. This is no number to sneeze at; if growth continues at the current rate, wind turbines will be capable of producing a third of the global energy requirements by 2050.
This is the same year the Aberdeen oil industry is expected to produce a frankly anaemic 440 thousand barrels per day. Of course, the wind doesn’t always blow, rendering turbines useless. Tidal power, on the other hand, is a form of renewable energy, the driver for which can be predicted as far as two years in advance. Scotland is already responsible for around 10% of Europe’s wave energy as is, planting Aberdeen and the North Sea firmly in a position of growth if the infrastructure is put into place. With the right level of investment Aberdeen can quite easily regain its title as energy capital of Europe.
A key roadblock in the transition to renewables has been the privatised means by which the oil and gas industry operates, whereby corporate entities control the production and selling power of materials found in the North Sea. Not only does this hamper the efforts of a necessary change, it also shortens the income stream of the Scottish Government. This money that has never reached the pockets of the Scottish Government could for example, fund the continued existence of 6 local libraries.
Scotland, and Aberdeen, deserve to reap the benefits of being an industry world leader and the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the Scottish Government to ensure this happens.
Growing up surrounded by Glaswegians and, more pertinently, Dundonians, the image of Aberdeen that was presented to me was ambivalent at best. Having lived here for a number of years, I can say that I love this city. I love the mediaeval feel of Old Aberdeen. I love the beautiful architecture you can find walking down Union Street, everyone’s favourite Wetherspoons, the Archibald Simpson, being a personal favourite. I love the intricacies of the Doric dialect and the nuances of the Aberdonian accent, which I still struggle to decipher at times. And the oil industry deserves credit for making Aberdeen an international city.
Regrettably, much like the ageing West-End lead, it’s time to make room for a new star. The transition from fossil fuels to renewables is a foregone conclusion in Scotland, but it is up to Aberdeen and the people who live here to decide where that transition will burn the brightest. I never got to experience this city in the 80s and 90s when the oil boom was at its peak, but I desperately want to be here for the future decades where wind turbines turn the wheels of custom-made Ferraris.
