Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of (a) how much oil and gas companies will spend on upstream decarbonisation and (b) by how much the investment allowance for decarbonisation for oil and gas companies will reduce total North Sea revenues in each financial year from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

The Energy Profits Levy (EPL) was introduced in May in response to sharp increases in oil and gas prices over the past year. At the Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that the rate of the levy would rise by ten percentage points to 35%, effective from 1 January 2023. The levy has also been extended until 31 March 2028.

The Government has been clear it wants to see the oil and gas sector reinvest its profits to support the economy, jobs and the UK’s energy security. That is why, from 1 January 2023, the Government will maintain the existing cash value of the levy’s investment allowance for most types of investment expenditure, ensuring that for every £1 an oil and gas company invests, they will continue being able to claim around 91p in tax relief.

For expenditure in upstream decarbonisation, the allowance will remain at 80%, meaning for every £100 an oil and gas company invests to decarbonise oil and gas production, they will be able to deduct £109.25 when calculating their levy profits. This provides an immediate and significant fiscal incentive to reinvest profits in the UK.

Since the levy is targeted at the extraordinary profits from oil and gas upstream activities, any relief for investment must also be related to oil and gas upstream activities. Therefore, tax relief is only available in relation to expenditure incurred for activity that is charged under the oil and gas ring fence corporation tax regime. For other investments, such as renewables, companies will be able to deduct investment costs from their corporation tax.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast at Autumn Statement 2022 estimates revenues from EPL are expected to be £41.6 billion between 2022-23 and 2027-28. This is inclusive of the impact of the investment allowance, consistent with previous revenue projections for the levy.

Oil and gas producers are commercial entities and the Government does not comment on individual taxpayers.

The Autumn Statement also confirmed the Government will engage stakeholders as part of a review to consider the UK’s long-term tax treatment of the North Sea after the Energy Profits Levy ceases in March 2028. Further details will be announced in due course.