FT: Oil companies welcome North Sea tax review

Oil companies have welcomed the UK government’s announcement on Monday that it is reviewing the North Sea oil tax regime, amid concerns the fiscal burden is threatening the sector’s long-term future.

“This is a seminal moment for the industry,” said Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of North Sea oil explorer EnQuest.

A tax overhaul could, he said, “slow down this precipitous decline we’ve been seeing in oil production”.

Operators have long criticised the UK fiscal regime as unpredictable and unnecessarily complicated. Confidence was particularly hard hit by the Treasury’s £2bn tax raid on the sector in 2011.
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