flourish and the North-east economy is buoyant. There is not expectation of huge fields like Brent and Forties being discovered but advances means that more and more oil is being extracted from those reservoirs [...] uneconomic are now almost routine. The North Sea is a mature province but the message the industry is struggling to transmit, particularly to the young, is that it has a long and valuable future and offers [...] companies. The drilling has been a long time coming in Faroese waters but momentum is building in what might become an unstoppable force. The signs which marked the arrival of the industry in Aberdeen and

Faroe Islands becoming an oil and gas producing province in their own right can ever be realised, if that ever happens. However, it is far too early to know what the real potential is, though figures like [...] the Agip and Foroya Kolvetni (FK) partnership. This is a particularly important time for FK in that, though it is largely owned by Faroese, the company is expected to float on the London Stock Exchange early [...] quarter.? Stewart is also finance director of Aberdeen-headquartered Dana Petroleum, which holds an option over 20% of FK?s shares and as a strategic partner Had FK been floated on the LSE as an oil junior ahead

have an agenda based on their national interests to pursue in their engagement with the Faroe Islands. They want visitors to return to their countries favourably disposed towards Britain. There is nothing [...] nothing dishonourable about this. It is a normal tool of diplomacy. But it does put the onus on the Faroese to decide what they want out of the relationship and to pursue this with equal determination. There [...] mutual interest. This means it is time for some strategic thinking about relations with the Faroe Islands closest neighbour to the South. A new relationship with Britain offers an opportunity to lessen dependence

thing about the UF-Faroe boundary deal is that it appears reasonably equitable. Oil folk are happy. Fisherfolk are appeased. Much of the boundary is equidistant. There is only one sector where Britain appears [...] issue concerning drawing the line between peacable North Atlantic neighbours can take this long, what hope is there for reaching dials where the politics are far more complex and where open conflict may exist [...] course referring to the Yugoslavia mess and, nearer to home, Northern Ireland. On the other hand, what was an urgent matter for the Faroese, was clearly not so for the UK with its much larger and more diverse