RE: Government16 Apr 2026 22:18
Former BP CEO Lord Browne has said it is “hard to believe that finding and developing the very limited oil and gas resources that remain will be economic”.
For years the UK has presided over one of the most generous tax regimes for oil and gas, leading to major oil companies paying negative tax. In 2024, Shell reported a negative UK tax figure of £12.5 million while posting global post-tax profits of £18 billion.
Despite the windfall tax, generous tax breaks also mean the UK public shoulders more than 80% of the costs of developing new fields. In the case of Rosebank, the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field, assuming a base-case scenario with a long-term average oil price of $70 a barrel, Rosebank could result in a net loss of over £250 million to the UK Treasury, while the field’s owners Equinor and Ithaca would earn £1.5 billion in profit.
More domestic oil and gas production makes no difference to UK energy bills and will not ease the cost of living crisis. North Sea reserves are owned by oil and gas companies who sell them to the highest bidder at international market prices. North Sea production is too small to influence these prices.