A UK Treasury minister has called for North Sea industry to seize the opportunity to become a pioneer in offshore decommissioning.
Andrew Jones, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said UK companies could cement a position as global experts in the sector and create thousands of job opportunities.
Speaking at the plenary session at Offshore Europe 2017, Mr Jones also said the UK Government was “firmly committed” to supporting the oil and gas industry.
Mr Jones said Westminster had provided more than £2billion worth of support for the sector in recent years, boosted by one of the most competitive tax environments in the world.
He said he was impressed by the way North Sea industry had responded to the challenging market conditions.
Mr Jones also said he was encouraged by signs of growing confidence in the industry, created by an influx of investment in the first half of 2017.
But he warned there was no “room for complacency” in industry or government and said his colleagues understood the importance of a stable and predictable tax regime.
He said the government was investigating ways of making the tax system better to encourage investment in late-life assets.
In the Spring Budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond said an expert panel would be assembled to consider reforming decommissioning tax relief to smooth the transfer of mature fields and infrastructure.
Today, Mr Jones revealed that the panel had met four times over summer and said that its findings would be reported in the Autumn Budget.
He said North Sea companies had all the ingredients needed to become global experts in decommissioning and create thousands of job opportunities.
“Right now we have a huge window of opportunity to become pioneers in decommissioning,” he said.
“We were the first to try new technologies and methods to overcome the inhospitable waters of the North Sea, so many decades ago.
“As the North Sea becomes the first major production basin in the world to reach maturity and start large scale decommissioning, we have the chance to once again make ourselves the go-to global experts,” Mr Jones said.
“That means thousands of highly-skilled job opportunities, it means export opportunities, and it means British businesses taking their place in a worldwide, world-class supply chain.
“The North Sea decommissioning industry is already worth £2 billion a year – I hope we’ll start to see that grow rapidly and I know that ideas about how we do that and make our mark on the global stage will be a big part of this conference.”
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