Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 24 October 2023 to Question 202953 on North Sea Oil and to the policy paper entitled Energy Taxes Factsheet, published on 17 November 2022, whether he plans to define taxpayers as investors in new fossil fuel developments.

Taxpayers are not considered investors in oil and gas. Oil and gas extraction in the UK and on the UK Continental Shelf is a market orientated activity undertaken by commercial organisations. Those organisations and their investors, who choose to invest in this activity, do so to generate a commercial return and bear the associated risks, including the risks referred to in Question 202953.

The role of government is to regulate the activity. As oil and gas is a national resource, the government also seeks to take a fair share of profits from exploration and production activities through the oil and gas tax regime.