RE: Windfall Tax31 Mar 2025 08:13
Cont...
The report said Mr Miliband’s ban on future exploratory drilling was “more of a political than an economically rational decision”.
It said: “The future is uncertain. Even the presumed limited resources currently untapped may at some point be essential to meet UK demand and energy security.”
The North Sea Transition Task Force is an independent body but set up in co-operation with the Government to oversee implementation of the North Sea Transition Deal, which encourages oil and gas companies to invest in renewables.
The report comes amid growing alarm from Britain’s oil and gas industry at the pace of decline and furious lobbying to seek to change policy. Offshore Energies UK, which represents the North Sea oil and gas industry, last week claimed reserves in the area could power half of Britain’s energy needs until 2050.
The North Sea Transition Task Force said three key measures were needed to protect the industry, the most important being to scrap the windfall tax.
It also called for changes in regulation to take account of court rulings around greenhouse gas emissions, and to clarify the rules around licensing for exploration
The report prompted a furious response from environmental groups campaigning to shut down the North Sea.
Robert Palmer, deputy director of Uplift, said: “There is an urgent need for the Government to come up with a coherent plan for a fair transition for workers, supply chains and the communities they support. But that won’t come from allowing more drilling and lowering taxes on oil and gas companies.
Allowing new drilling would seriously undermine investor confidence in the Government’s commitment to shifting away from oil and gas. Ministers should view this report as the oil and gas industry simply doing what it has always done: lobby for lower taxes.”
A government spokesman said: “We have already taken rapid steps in delivering a fair and orderly transition in the North Sea– with the biggest ever investment in offshore wind and up to £21.7bn in funding over the next 25 years for carbon capture and storage and hydrogen projects.
“This comes alongside the launch of Great British Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen, and the creation of a National Wealth Fund, both of which will unlock significant investment in clean power projects across the UK and help create thousands of skilled jobs.”