Norway’s oil fund is now worth £174bn after an initial investment of £174m in 1990, an achievement an independent Scotland could follow, according to the SNP.

Nationalist Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said that with oil prices at a record high, Scotland should seek to emulate the success of the Norwegians before North Sea oil and gas runs out.

“These figures are simply extraordinary. From a seedcorn investment equivalent to just £174 million pounds in the 1990’s – made almost 20 years after the first oil started flowing ashore - Norway’s careful husbandry of her oil and gas resources has seen the national fund grow in value a thousand-fold.

“Even Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks recognised recently that the Norwegian approach was the correct one. However, with oil prices currently nudging US $100 per barrel and the resulting revenues which are flooding into Treasury coffers, now is exactly the time to start investing this extraordinary windfall for future generations.

"The last 30 years represent a sad story of missed opportunities and squandered resources. By seizing the initiative and establishing a Fund for Future Generations, instead of repeating the failures of successive UK governments over the past 30 years, Scotland can begin to mirror the successes of our neighbour across the North Sea." 

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