PETROLEUM industry chiefs are to meet with scientists to discuss the potential for new offshore oil and gas discoveries in the Firth of Clyde.

The meeting hosted by the Scottish Government will put academics round the table with exploration companies to look into the possibility of tapping previously underexplored offshore areas to the west of Scotland including the Solway Firth, the North Channel, the Sea of the Hebrides as well as the Clyde estuary.

It comes after newspaper reports last year alleged that the Ministry of Defence stopped test drilling in the Firth of Clyde over fears it may interfere with the nuclear submarines based at Faslane.

Declassified UK Government documents from the 1980s showed that MoD chiefs blocked moves by BP to carry out drilling in the Firth of Clyde.

That was backed up by former Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine this year when he confirmed test drilling was blocked.

MSP for Cunninghame North Kenneth Gibson commented: “My SNP colleague Chic Brodie MSP has been digging into this for some time.

"He found that The UK Government – well aware that commercially exploitable oil is in the seabed beneath the lower Clyde – banned exploration and exploitation in order that it would not get in the way of nuclear submarines patrolling those waters.

"Thus, the west of Scotland has been denied the opportunity of its own oil boom which in the north-east of Scotland currently supports 200,000 Scottish jobs and pours billions annually into the UK Treasury.

"Mr Brodie also discovered that Ardrossan was where the industry in the west was to be headquartered and showed me documents to that effect.

"Simply put, UK nuclear submarines are not only an obscene waste of public money but their presence has prevented the development of an oil industry in Ayrshire that could only have enhanced local employment and prosperity.

"However, the oil is still there and with independence and the removal of Trident, exploration can resume and extraction of those resources can proceed."

The Government will co-host the meeting with Heriot Watt University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering in the format of a workshop attended by representatives of the industry.

Attendees will also discuss the requirement for new research to help stimulate exploration off the west coast.

The ‘West of Scotland Oil and Gas Workshop’ to be held in late Autumn, further emphasises the long-term future of the oil and gas industry in Scotland, which supports over 200,000 people in the sector.

Over the longer term, if future exploration of the inner seas to the west of the Scottish mainland proves successful, which could be further sustained by an examination of vast underexplored land towards Rockall, the potential for a new hydrocarbon province could help boost oil and gas production from Scottish waters.

Commenting on the workshop, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing said: "Stimulating oil and gas activity to the west of Scotland could create employment and further increase the longevity of the industry in the country.

"Furthermore, any future activity will be supported by Scotland’s world-class indigenous supply chain with forty years of experience in the North Sea.

"However, only with independence will the Scottish Government have the full economic powers to stimulate exploration activity in Scotland’s waters to fully develop the country’s oil and gas resources."

Professor Dorrik Stow, Head of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering said: "We look forward to being part of a wide collaboration with industry, universities and government to gain a better understanding of the prospects for oil and gas in the West of Scotland.

"The Institute has world-leading expertise to help develop the discussion on future exploration activity in the region."