North Sea budget deal a ‘step in the right direction’ for industry jobs

An overhaul of the North Sea tax regime outlined in the budget last week is a ‘step in the right direction’ in protecting jobs, according to Fircroft.

The energy and engineering workforce solutions specialist highlighted that tax cuts put in place by George Osborne will aid the recovery of the North Sea oil and gas industry and help to secure jobs for the future. The Chancellor explained his plans to “effectively abolish” Petroleum Revenue Tax while an existing supplementary charge for oil companies will also be cut from 20% to 10%, backdated to 1st January. This comes at a time when the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that the oil price is stabilising and could even climb in the near future.

Johnathan Johnson, CEO of Fircroft, comments.
“We welcome the tax cuts put in place by the Chancellor to help protect one of the jewels in the UK economy. This has to be seen as a long-term move to ensure the security of jobs in an industry that has historically added around £25bn to the UK’s bottom line every year. That’s a contribution to the economy that can’t, and shouldn’t, be abandoned and it’s highly encouraging to see the government support the sector in this way.

“This is a positive move that can help to support jobs in the North Sea industry, particularly in combination with continued price cuts, the right regulations and, of course, a return to form of the price of Brent Crude. We have remained confident that the industry would bounce back contrary to the views of a number of commentators who were openly questioning its future and we’re even more confident about long term job prosperity now that the government has shown its full support.”