Onshore oil well is Scots first

The Caithness Petroleum site on the far north coast

Drilling work has begun on the Caithness shoreline for what will be Scotland's first onshore oil well.

The North Sea Lybster field lies close to the coast and the company developing the deposit said drilling from a land base was cheaper, easier and safer.

Using special drilling tools, engineers are boring a curved well from land to under the seabed. It could reach the field in two months.

Caithness Petroleum said rising oil prices could see other wells developed.

Last month, a BBC Scotland investigation was told the North Sea had almost as much oil left as had already been extracted.

ONSHORE OIL FACT FILE Wytch Farm in Dorset is the largest onshore oilfield in Western Europe It was discovered in 1973 and developed by BP In the UK, onshore oil production proved vital to the war effort during World War I

Experts believe between 25 and 30 billion barrels could still be recovered over the next 40 years.

Caithness Petroleum is a privately owned, independent exploration and production company.

Set up in 2005, it is working in Morocco and the North Sea.

Chief operating officer Peter O'Sullivan said Lybster could be the first of a number of onshore wells in the area.

He said: "We think the field is in the region of 3-4 million barrels and we would like to start producing around a thousand barrels a day.

"But for an onshore development, this can be economic to a few hundred barrels a day."

Mr O'Sullivan said the Lybster venture could have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years.