Correction: In this article we referred to media reports claiming that Xcite Energy had announced a substantial oil find to the east of Shetland. We are happy to clarify that the oil field is not a new discovery and has a reserve of about 300m barrels.

SCOTLAND’S oil and gas revenues could be up to six times higher than those forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), according to an independent report which Alex Salmond, the first minister, said “blows another huge hole in the credibility” of the London-based fiscal watchdog.

N-56, an apolitical economic think tank, has published an analysis of Scotland’s future oil and gas revenues which suggests they could be worth £365bn by 2040. The OBR has forecast a more conservative