Treasury

Friday 24th May 2024 Written Corrections

Finance (No. 2) Bill

The following extract is from the debate on the Finance (No. 2) Bill in Committee of the whole House on 8 May 2024.

[Gareth Davies]

Current oil and gas prices are higher than normal, and OBR projections indicate that high prices will persist over the next five years. The ESIM is a mechanism that switches off the EPL if, for a period of six months, the average prices of both oil and gas fall below set thresholds. Those thresholds are currently $74.21 per barrel for oil and 50p per therm for gas, and are based on a 20-year historical average to the end of 2022—before higher energy prices began—and are adjusted each April based on the annual change in the preceding December’s consumer prices index.

—[Official Report, 8 May 2024; Vol. 749, c. 634.]

Written correction submitted by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies):

[Gareth Davies]

Those thresholds are currently $74.21 per barrel for oil and 57p per therm for gas, and are based on a 20-year historical average to the end of 2022 —before higher energy prices began—and are adjusted each April based on the annual change in the preceding December’s consumer prices index.