Risk & Economy » Tax » Budget 2015: Osborne’s boost for British oil and gas industry

Budget 2015: Osborne's boost for British oil and gas industry

The government will slash the Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) rate from 50% to 35% from 31 December 2015

THE CHANCELLOR announced a raft of “better than expected” measures to give the UK’s oil and gas industry a welcome fillip in the wake of the fallout from the dramatic plunge in the wholesale price of crude oil.

Among them is a reduction in the Supplementary Charge resulting in a 10% fall from 30% to 20%, back-dated from 1 January 2015.

Meanwhile, the government will also slash the Petroleum Revenue Tax (PRT) rate from 50% to 35% from 31 December 2015.

There will also be a £20m injection of support for 2015-16 for seismic and geoscientific surveys – to galvanise more exploration in unexplored regions of the UK Continental Shelf.

Kevin Hindley, managing director of independent tax advisors Alvarez & Marsal Taxand, said: “Today’s announcement goes much further than expected and means that more than £1.3bn of much-needed support will be pumped into Britain’s North Sea oil and gas industry, left reeling from the impact of collapsing global crude prices, which led to a dramatic exit from activities on the continental shelf over recent months.”

 

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