With UK North Sea Oil Production Off 44% From Peak, Aberdeen Preparing For The Inevitable

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Dock workers say some ship owners are so pessimistic of getting a charter soon, they won't even pay to dock at the harbour. A dozen vessels are moored a few miles off Aberdeen's sandy coast. Normally one might see one or two, oil men said. Aberdeen has seen hundreds of layoffs and engineering graduates from local universities have, for the first time in years, struggled to find jobs as big oil companies such as BP ( BP - news - people ) and Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSA - news - people ) cut spending.

The result already is vacant shops on Union Street, the city's main thoroughfare, while bars, restaurants and taxi drivers say business is slacker than a year ago.

RENEWABLE HOPES

Tourism, life sciences, and the export of oil services around the world are among Aberdeen's targeted substitutes for North sea oil and gas -- but for many the biggest prize would be to use its offshore oil expertise to build a renewable energy industry as big as oil. The city aims to use its experience to become a leader in offshore wind, tidal power and carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS0 -- industries it hopes will receive a boost from global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.

'We have to harness that expertise and turn Aberdeen into the energy capital of Europe and not just the oil capital of Europe,' said Mike Rumbles, West Aberdeenshire Member of the Scottish Parliament, echoing a broad city marketing shift. Alex Salmond, head of the devolved Scottish government, told a conference in Aberdeen last month the market for wind power could be worth 130 billion pounds, while Scotland could be the 'Saudi Arabia of tidal power'.

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http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/10/20/afx7023814.html