THE new Treasury minister charged with handling issues including North Sea oil taxation welcomed Nexen and its partner’s investment.
Making her first comment as economic secretary, Chloe Smith said yesterday: “This is a further sign that the North Sea remains an attractive location for investors, coming after positive recent announcements from a range of companies including BP and Apache.
“As a government we very much appreciate the huge contribution made by the oil and gas sector to the UK economy. I look forward to continuing our positive engagement with the industry on the issues that affect them, including through the fiscal forum set up last month.”
Earlier this week, industry leaders pointed out that while major developments such as Golden Eagle were going ahead, it was the smaller more marginal fields – now the majority in the North Sea – that were at risk because of higher tax rates imposed on oil and gas firms in the Budget.
Ms Smith has taken the place of the previous economic secretary, Justine Greening, who announced at Offshore Europe a new fiscal forum to increase discussion between the treasury and industry over tax rates on producers and issues over decommissioning relief.
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