Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse of was decommissioning projects in the (a) Northern, (b) Central and (c) Southern North Sea in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse in each North Sea region in 2018.

We do not hold information that provides a breakdown of decommissioning tax relief by region, or a historic breakdown by year.

HM Revenue and Customs currently estimate that the total cumulative Exchequer cost of decommissioning tax relief (comprised of Petroleum Revenue Tax, Ring Fence Corporation Tax and Supplementary Charge) will be £24 billion out to 2062/63.

Further details can be found in the recently published statistics of government revenues from UK oil and gas: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721314/Statistics_of_government_revenues_from_UK_oil_and_gas_production__June_2018__.pdf.