Oil and natural gas wealth in the North Sea is expected to become major financial asset for Scotland on independence, the finance secretary said Wednesday. “North Sea oil and gas is a fantastic natural asset which has a great future for many decades to come,” Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said in a statement . Scotland holds a referendum for independence from the United Kingdom in September. The Scottish government said it could finance itself in part through oil and gas revenues while powering its economy with renewable resources. Swinney said there may be as much as 24 billion barrels of oil and natural gas reserves left in the North Sea and production is on pace to increase by 14 percent between 2013 and 2018. The finance minister said Scotland may be the largest oil producer and the second largest gas producer in the European Union. […]