Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Business
Pursuits

Diamonds Aren’t Forever in Aberdeen as Oil Guys Go Cheap

The BP Plc Eastern Trough Area Project oil platform in the North Sea, east of Aberdeen. BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and a venture between Talisman Energy Inc. and Sinopec Ltd. have announced hundreds of layoffs since last year.

The BP Plc Eastern Trough Area Project oil platform in the North Sea, east of Aberdeen. BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and a venture between Talisman Energy Inc. and Sinopec Ltd. have announced hundreds of layoffs since last year.

Photographer: Andy Buchanan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
By
Donal Griffin
Updated on

In Aberdeen, a city built out of granite on Scotland’s North Sea coast, a diamond merchant checks the price of oil every day.

Until recently, the dealer, Oscar Ozdaslar, had been accustomed to North Sea oil workers stopping in to buy 3,500-pound ($5,260) diamond rings and earrings in his store on Union Street.