A North Sea oil windfall tax won’t raise much but every little bit helps

A windfall tax on BP’s north Sea operations may cost it only £250m, figures suggest. Photograph: Reuters

Tesco chairman John Allan, aside from calling for a windfall tax on North Sea oil and producers, also said this on Tuesday: “I think they [the companies’ boards] are expecting it and I doubt they would actually be much fazed by it.”

Since Allan is a well-connected FTSE 100 boardroom heavyweight, it’s safe to assume he’s correct on the first point. And one strongly suspects he’s right on the second, too: most versions of a windfall tax do not involve sums that should scare directors or shareholders.