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Scotland's First Oil Rush

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

17/05/2016

BBC Two - Scotland's First Oil Rush

The story of the shale oil industry and its impact on the community of West Lothian.

Documentary telling the story of the shale oil industry and its lasting impact on the community of West Lothian. Presented by geologist Professor Iain Stewart.

Scotland witnessed the world's first true 'oil rush', when inventor James 'Paraffin' Young first refined lighting fuel from a shale rock known as torbanite in 1851. There followed more than a century of the shale oil industry, which employed thousands and whose fortunes ebbed and flowed with industrialisation and two world wars.

Presented by geologist Professor Iain Stewart, this film tells the story of shale, its lasting impact on one Scottish community - West Lothian - and the massive and unique landmarks still visible today.

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