RE: Good News!20 Nov 2017 15:39
More from http://www.cityam.com/276013/north-sea-investment-set-boom-if-budget-produces-tax-change
"A change would allow buyers to reclaim the costs of decommissioning wells, making buying and selling mature oil fields more attractive.
Oil & Gas UK says the move will save taxpayers millions by prolonging the life of older fields, thereby deferring decommissioning, and save the Treasury an average of �10m per asset in deferred tax relief.
Hammond said North Sea tax reform was the top request of his Scottish colleagues, and he added that the Treasury would make sure it doesn't "inadvertently create scope for gaming" the tax system.
Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said tax reform would extend the life of the basin.
Mature assets have attracted private equity funds and smaller producers who are able to use new technologies and techniques to extract oil out of older fields, but Michie said the current tax position is blocking potential deals.
Michie said: Transferable tax history would boost the number of mature field deals we are seeing in the North Sea. This, in turn, would help bring fresh investment into the basin, generate new production and provide extra tax revenues for Treasury.
In his Spring Budget, Hammond unveiled new measures to review tax relief to maximise the North Sea's remaining reserves, but he was criticised by industry players for his lack of urgency in the matter.
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The very last sentence seems important, if Hammond has already been criticized for lack of urgency, he should feel obligated to get the ball rolling fast