UK Plans to Save North Sea Fields

The UK Treasury has announced proposals to extend the life of maturing North Sea oil fields by overhauling the current tax system.

The North Sea Fiscal Regime consultation document addresses inconsistencies in the current system, calling for further debate on issues relating to tax and the re-use of oil and gas assets for carbon or gas storage.

The move has been welcomed by industry body Oil & Gas UK, who say the measures will give the industry "greater certainty" where tax and specifically petroleum revenue tax (PRT) is concerned.

"The changes proposed so far should help to extend the life of many fields and facilitate the transfer of assets", says Oil & Gas UK's CEO Malcolm Webb.

But Webb also warns the future of the North Sea can only "be properly secured by reducing the overall tax burden to ensure investment can be sustained" in the region.

By Ozge Ibrahim