The Prime Minister said a second boom was theoretically possible but argued it would require investment that only the UK as a whole could afford.
“I believe there can be. What we have here in the North Sea is perhaps we’re two-thirds of the way through using this resource but there’s another third to go. That’s millions of pounds of investment and many jobs, great success for Scotland,” he told BBC Scotland.
“My argument is with the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom behind the oil industry, we can help it through difficult times such as we are now, and we can make sure we maximise the value of this asset for Scotland but also for the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Rejecting SNP and trade union claims the £250 million package was too little, he said it was a “substantial sum”, would lever in additional private investment and create extra export opportunities.
Mr Cameron said the City Deal, the cost of which is split between the Scottish and UK governments, is an example of both administrations coming together “to really put financial muscle behind the development of Aberdeen.”
The Oil and Gas Authority, the industry regulator, backed the investment as “very welcome” but Ms Sturgeon said her government would spend an extra £254 million in the area over the next five to ten years improving its infrastructure.
These include better rail links and improvements to the A90 junction at Laurencekirk. She said her ministers would press the UK Government to match the total of £379 million they have committed.
Ms Sturgeon, who will visit Aberdeen on Monday, told First Minister’s Questions there was “understandably” a lot of focus about the separatists’ claims about oil during the independence referendum.
But to cheers from her SNP backbenchers, she said: “In February 2014, David Cameron promised a “£200 billion oil boom” if Scotland voted no. Maybe when he is in Aberdeen this afternoon he can tell us what happened to that money.”
Fergus Ewing, her Energy Minister, criticised the funding for new oil surveys. He said: “The substance of the Prime Minister's announcement contains very few new measures, and he has missed an opportunity to provide the sector with assurance that it needs."
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d336b7c/sc/13/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cpolitics0Cdavid0Ecameron0C121286560CDavid0ECameron0ESecond0ENorth0ESea0Eboom0Epossible0Ewith0EUK0Emuscle0Bhtml/story01.htm