Scottish oil and gas exports put at £30bn

The figures were described as "experimental" and showed £17.5bn of oil and gas was exported in 2012

Scottish sales of oil, gas and refined products to the rest of the world have been estimated at £30.3bn.

It is the first time there has been an estimate of the value of sales of crude oil, gas and refined hydrocarbons, and has been compiled by economists at the Scottish government.

Described as "experimental", their figures for 2012 showed £12.8bn sales to the rest of the UK.

A further £17.5bn was down to international exports.

Of the total, £18bn was crude oil and natural gas liquids. A further £6.5bn was natural gas, most of which was sold to the rest of the UK.

The estimates showed a value of £5.9bn was in refined petroleum products.

Much of this was from Grangemouth, where the petro-chemical plant - recently threatened with closure - was thought to produce 18% of the UK total output in that sector.

'Main player'

In addition, survey evidence published earlier this year pointed to Scottish companies in 2011 selling £17.2bn worth of support services to the oil and gas industry, nearly half of that in international exports.

Most of the exports were sales by subsidiaries of companies based in Scotland, led by Wood Group, while £2.4bn were sales by direct export.

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish economy and energy minister, said: "As an international oil and gas exporter, Scotland is undeniably a main player. It is a huge and increasing market.

"Increasingly, our companies are embracing the major opportunities in the oil and gas supply chain, winning lucrative contracts to export products and services from Scotland. It is the first time the scale of the international industry in the North Sea has been available in such detail."

The minister added: "We have many creative and innovative companies capable of identifying growth opportunities in overseas markets and making a significant contribution to such business for many years to come."