Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that the UK Government will do “everything we can” to help the North Sea oil and gas industry as prices continued to fall.
The Conservative leader offered his support to the sector on the day prices dropped below $50 a barrel for the first time this decade.
He also claimed that the industry’s troubles underlined the “utterly misguided” nature of the SNP’s independence plan.
The UK Government cut the supplementary charge on offshore firms from 32% to 30% at the Autumn Statement, but industry chiefs want the Treasury to go further and scrap the additional tax completely.
Labour MP Anas Sarwar raised the issue at prime minister’s questions in Westminster.
He said: “The price of oil has now fallen to $50 a barrel. While this is good news for motorists, it is bad news for Scotland’s oil industry and thousands of workers.”
Mr Cameron dodged a call from Mr Sarwar for his participation in a cross-party delegation on oil, but promised the government would try to help the sector.
He said: “North sea oil is a vital industry for the UK and one of the biggest investors in our country, so we should do everything we can to help it.
“Secondly, and for that reason, we took steps in the autumn statement to improve the taxation regime for North sea oil.
“It makes the case for the strength of the UK and the utterly misguided nature of the SNP, which thought it could base its entire budget on such a high oil price.”
Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael will reiterated the government’s support for the sector on a visit to Aberdeen today.
“I’ve made visiting the north-east – Scotland’s oil and gas hub – a high priority for the new year as there can be no doubt, we are in the midst of challenging times for the industry,” he said.
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