As with North Sea Oil, you must extract oil, but this time the target figure is £1,000m.

Here, the rights of two oilfields are on offer, one of which - Avalon - has the potential of a bigger yield. In the solo version, you may have to bid against the computer for drilling rights. Depending on its mood, it tries to outbid you or simply to make you squander the budget.

Having settled drilling rights, you need an exploration rig, so it's off to Jock's yard to buy a rig. Depending on his mood, you may be lucky and strike a bargain unless the price is already fixed, whereupon Jock adopts a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

> You must decide while towing the rig to the oil field whether or not to pay out bonuses. There's a certain amount of risk (naturally) and you can easily end up broke trying to beat your rival. The weather varies during the tow, from force 9 gales to total calm.

Once you have some oil to pump ashore, it's back to the canny Scot to buy a production platform.

The platform is towed out as before, with you offering bonuses to your crew or not, as you please. Sometimes the first one to get a rig in position will get a bonus - but don't depend on it.

> The pipeline is then laid and once connected, the oil flows ashore.

Though the graphics are limited to solid chunks, that doesn't detract too much from the game.

While your precious oil comes ashore, newsflashes appear tickertape-style across the screen. The spot price for oil fluctuates from as low as one dollar a barrel to over five dollars.

> The target is reached fairly quickly and all too soon the game is over. Depending on your skill, at the end of the game, you'll make Company President - or pump attendant.