Prime Minister David Cameron has visited a North Sea oil and gas rig ahead of rival British and Scottish cabinet meetings on the future of the industry ahead of an independence referendum.
The British premier flew by helicopter to the BP ETAP platform 217km off the Scottish east coast, in fossil fuel fields that are a major battleground in the campaign ahead of September's vote.
"As I was shown around, I could see how the UK's broad shoulders provide stability for the industry to invest," Cameron said on Twitter after the visit, his first to a North Sea oil platform.
Cameron met Trevor Garlick, regional president of British oil giant BP, and rig staff on the early morning visit.
He also posted a picture of himself meeting two rig staffers, writing: "Talking to Chris and Dave in the 'rec room' about life on BP ETAP."
The prime minister was later hosting a meeting of his cabinet in the oil hub of Aberdeen on Scotland's northeast coast, to announce investment plans for the North Sea energy sector.
The plans are part of the London government's efforts to persuade Scots that they will be better off keeping the more than 300-year-old union with England when they vote in the September 18 referendum.
All three main British parties - Cameron's Conservatives, their coalition partners the Liberal Democrats, and the opposition Labour Party - want Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond took his pro-independence regional government from Edinburgh to Portlethen, just south of Aberdeen, to bang the drum for keeping North Sea oil revenues within Scotland alone.
Cameron's visit to a BP rig comes less than three weeks after BP chief executive Bob Dudley warned that if Scotland votes for independence it could create uncertainty for his business.
