UK tax cuts offer forlorn hope for North Sea operators

摘要

The UK government is further cutting taxes for the offshore oil and gas industry, amid a collapse in revenues because of the lower price environment. “The oil price has continued to fall. We need to act now for the long term,” UK finance minister George Osborne says. The government is “effectively abolishing” the petroleum revenue tax-a levy on profits from oil fields approved before 1993-cutting the rate to 0pc from 35pc. And it is halving the supplementary charge on oil and gas extraction to 10pc. The charge had stood at 20pc before Osborne raised it to 32pc in 2011. He cut it to 20pc last year. The latest reductions will be backdated to 1 January 2016.