© Shutterstock Trade organisation Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has renewed its calls for the UK government to the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas firms.
The call comes after the UK government’s consultation on the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) closed on Wednesday 28 May.
As part of its response, OEUK called on the Labour government to introduce a new price mechanism in 2026, ahead of the current timeline which will see the EPL replaced in 2030.
In addition, OEUK also called on Labour to develop a new national energy strategy to “protect British industry, cut bills, and drive net zero”.
OEUK said the success of the Labour government’s forthcoming industrial strategy “hinges on one critical factor: energy”.
The organisation detailed its key asks of government in a white paper covering the windfall tax and policy measures to support carbon capture and storage (CCS), geothermal energy, hydrogen and offshore wind.
Fellow trade organisations Make UK and Energy UK have also called for policy change to reduce the UK’s high energy prices to boost domestic industry.
Offshore Energy Mission Control
Alongside scrapping the windfall tax, OEUK called for greater investment skills development, streamlined regulatory processes and the development of a “strong domestic industrial base”.
The trade body said this should be implemented through an “Offshore Energy Mission Control” and international collaboration on building a “shared energy hub” with the UK’s North Sea neighbours.
OEUK said its plan will deliver £200 billion in investment from the offshore sector this decade, and add an additional £150bn of value to the UK economy.
Alongside investment in offshore wind, CCS and hydrogen, OEUK said the industry could deliver “responsible production” of an additional 3 billion barrels of domestic oil and gas “while meeting UK climate goals”.
North Sea vision for ‘modern industrial Britain’
OEUK chief executive David Whitehouse said the potential £200bn investment from the offshore sector would “underpin the UK’s vision for a modern industrial Britain”.
“If we want to build world-leading products, grow British business, and create thousands of high-quality jobs across the UK, then we must put homegrown energy at the heart of the nation’s economic, security and climate ambitions,” Whitehouse said.
“Decarbonisation must not mean deindustrialisation.
© Supplied by OEUK“Output in our energy intensive industries is at a 35-year low, yet our North Sea has the capability to provide all the energy it needs now and in future.
“In a world where we should be protecting our sovereign capabilities, that is not good enough.”
Whitehouse said the government and industry “must work together to bring down energy costs”.
“By choosing homegrown energy over imports, our plan shows a path where the UK can achieve its climate goals and grow the economy,” he said.
