North Sea Oil

A fascinating history of the recovery of oil in the North Sea, written in a lively and accessible style by an expert former master mariner who worked in the fields for over a decade.

Charting the development of the North Sea Oil business from the early days, when oil companies hired seismic ships to go out and use dynamite to try to determine whether there was any oil out there, to the modern day, this is a fascinating history of oil and gas exploration, development and production in the North Sea. This was a drama enacted out of sight of land, in the freezing waters of one of the world's most hostile seas. All the major oil companies wanted to get in on the act, as well as the traditional Gulf of Mexico ship operators, and the British shipping industry.

Legislation was always frantically trying to catch up with events – but without holding the oil companies back – leading to what read like back-of-an-envelope calculations such as: 'The emergency plans for the installation must ensure that individuals working in such areas of the platforms have access to life jackets and immersion suits which will enable a thin man – more susceptible to hypothermia than a fat one – to survive for three hours in the water.'

It is a story of appalling conditions, monumental feats of engineering and a new frontier in the race for energy independence.

About the Author

Victor Gibson is a former master mariner who commanded offshore vessels working in the North Sea between 1975 and 1986. He wrote a guide for shipmasters involved in the offshore industry, Supply Ship Operations, published by Butterworth Heinemann, and subsequently compiled technical documentation for a number of drilling rig owners, as well as contributing articles to specialist journals and acting as a marine representative for rig moves.

Praise for North Sea Oil

'As debate rages on the merits of drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea, Victor Gibson's account of the industry's rise and decline feels particularly timely, writes Sam Baker. Squeezing 60 years of exploration, drilling and decommissioning into 286 pages – and concluding with the court rulings affecting the Rosebank and Jackdaw developments – Gibson largely avoids taking a firm position on the sector's future. However, he suggests that opposition to new projects could mark a decisive turning point for the UK's offshore industry. At the same time, the very existence of a retrospective book on North Sea oil hints that its most significant chapter may already be over.'
– The Chemical Engineer Magazine, May 2026

'A superb book that brings the story of the industry to a wider audience and makes the invisible visible.'
– Undiscovered Scotland, August 2025

'It is a tale of grit, endurance and extraordinary technical innovation, as well as distress when things have gone wrong and lives have been lost.'
– Tugs and Towing News, August 2025