PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Offshore Industry: Scotland (4 December 2017)

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of transferable tax history for late-life oil and gas assets on employment in the north-east of Scotland.

Asked by:
Andrew Bowie (Conservative)

At the Autumn Budget, the government announced it would introduce a Transferable Tax History for oil & gas companies. This will give investors in UK oil and gas fields certainty that they will be able to get tax relief for decommissioning assets. This should encourage new investment in older oil and gas fields, keeping them producing for longer and supporting employment.

This builds on the £2.3bn of fiscal support the government has already provided to the UK oil and gas industry, including a package of tax cuts across Budget 2015 and 2016, £40m of funding for seismic surveys to support exploration, and the introduction of a new Investment Allowance. As a result, the UK now has one of the most competitive tax regimes in the world for oil and gas, further supporting investment and jobs.

Answered by:
Andrew Jones (Conservative)
12 December 2017