The 'trillion pound' oil fund the government believes Britain could have built
The UK government has launched an Energy Wealth Fund, sparking a debate about why Britain failed to create a sovereign wealth fund from North Sea oil revenues like Norway did. Treasury officials estimate that if historical oil receipts had been invested, the fund could have been worth over a trillion pounds today.
Why it matters
This reflects on long-term economic policy decisions and the missed opportunity to build a massive national asset for future generations.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Faisal Islam Economics editor BBC The Jackdaw gas platform and drilling rig in the North Sea. After a half-century wait, the United Kingdom now has an oil fund.
Chancellor John Healey announced the creation of an Energy Wealth Fund at the Jackdaw gas approval announcement on Wednesday, with £2bn of funding housed in the National Wealth Fund.
A selection of energy exporting countries, mainly in the Gulf, but also including Norway, over the years have amassed multi-trillion funds using oil and gas revenues to create epic national piggy banks.
It has been a long-standing debate in UK economic policy circles. If neighbouring Norway has amassed a $2.4tn war chest from the same North Sea, where exactly did the UK's sovereign wealth fund go?
It is an apposite question on the week when the national debt also hit £3tn for the first time.
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