Potential Scottish independence will not affect the UK Government's ambitions for the North Sea, a Coalition minister said.
Energy Minister Charles Hendry said the Government remained committed to ensuring "long-term confidence" in the region, worth billions of pounds a year to the economy.
In a signal that he expects the Scottish people to reject independence, he added he wanted to create the "greatest possible benefit to the UK".
The Scottish Government argues that international law will award Scotland the majority of North Sea oil and gas reserves in any "divorce" from the UK. However, it is expected that any eventual settlement would come about only after protracted negotiations between Edinburgh and London.
Mr Hendry said last year half of the oil and gas in the North Sea had yet to be extracted.
At the time, his remarks appeared to contradict a report by Oil and Gas UK, the industry body, which had suggested there could be as little as one-quarter of the total left.
In a letter to the same organisation yesterday, Mr Hendry said he was aware the upcoming independence referendum was "a point of uncertainty".
However, he added that the UK Government would "act in the best interest of the Union by continuing to lay the foundations for a profitable future for UK Continental Shelf investment".
The minister will be in Scotland today to launch the latest Oil and Gas licensing round.
The Coalition faced criticism from the industry last year in the wake of its £2 billion-a-year raid on profits.
Business: Page 23
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