Oil chief fights to save tax breaks
Oil and Gas UK chief executive says calls to remove tax incentives are ‘misguided’
Calls for tax incentives for fossil fuel companies to be abolished are
‘misguided’ according to a senior figure in the industry.
In a letter to the Financial
Times, Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil and Gas UK said that
portraying the industry as being subsidised by taxpayers because of capital
allowances is wrong. He argued instead that oil and gas companies are the
highest taxed in the country, with profits taxed at between 50% and 75% compared
to 28% for other industries.
Webb also argued that tax incentives needed to be retained in order to
maximise UK oil and gas production and stop the country’s reliance on imports
increasing. The drive towards renewable fuels will not be able to offset a
significant loss of UK oil, he said.
‘A worsening of terms on which the UK’s oil and gas producers operate, such
as the dismantling of capital allowances on investment, will only drive away
investors and ensure an early and enduring crisis in our energy supply.’