Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential economic benefits arising from the proposals on transferable tax history in the oil and gas sector set out in Autumn Budget 2017.

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.

The main industry body, Oil and Gas UK, in response to the Budget announcement have said that a Transferable Tax History would be ‘a vital step that can bring in new investment to increase recovery from existing fields and fund fresh investment which is key to generating activity for our hard-pressed supply chain. It will also help extend the lives of many mature fields and postpone decommissioning.’

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.