As another windfall tax looms large, North Sea oil companies have written to chancellor Jeremy Hunt to tell him that it could prove disastrous to their sector.
Hunt is planning an extension to the windfall tax during the upcoming Autumn Budget. This could well see another increase of five per cent, but the news has not gone down well with the Brindex trade group (Association of British Independent Exploration Companies).
That group comprises more than 20 companies including Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy and NEO Energy, and they have told Hunt that an increase in the levy would hit the “appetite and financial ability” to invest. Brindex chairman Robin Allan said: “Yet another change to the tax regime, in just a matter of months, would be disastrous to this sector.
