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.