In Scotland, energy and independence are inextricably linked. Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, the engineer of the latest push for Scottish independence, argued on Feb. 15 for the need to establish a Scottish ''oil fund,'' reclaiming energy revenues from the North Sea oil shelves. But this isn't the first time Scots' push for freedom has been tied up with oil; the question of who gets money from Scottish resources, and how much, has been controversial since 1851, when a Scot by the name of James Young began commercial oil production in the Midland Valley.

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